AA29105 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc - MH487 - Sqn Ldr Donald Smith

Learning to fly in his native Australia, Donald Hamilton Smith was posted to an operational RAF squadron following the successful completion of his RAF service conversion in late 1941, and would later spend time flying in defence of Malta. 

He would be the recipient of an unusual award whilst on the island, as he was presented with the Soviet Medal for Valour, awards which the Soviets gave to the RAF to hand out as they saw fit, but in this case, for the tenacity Smith had shown in combat. 

Becoming acting CO of No.453 Squadron on 2nd May 1944, he led the unit on many offensive sweeps into northern France in preparation for D-Day, mainly against enemy radar installations. The squadron were up early to fly the first of 4 sorties over the beachheads on D-Day itself, but didn’t encounter enemy aircraft activity at all on that fateful day, something which would become the norm over the next few days.

They would encounter the Luftwaffe on 16th June, when twelve Spitfires engaged a similar number of Bf 109 fighters, with several subsequently falling to the guns of the RAAF Spitfires, two being credited to their Commanding Officer Smith. As Allied forces pushed the enemy inland from the beachheads, No.453 Squadron moved operations to the Advanced Landing Ground B.11 at Longues-sur-Mer, just off the Normandy coast, and close to the German Atlantic Wall coastal battery between the Omaha and Gold landing beaches.