The discovery of a Second World War plane crash in the Sperrin mountains has led to an appeal to find the relatives of an English soldier who lost his life in the crash. Petty Officer Douglas David Smith died on 6 August 1945 when his Grumman Hellcat plane crashed into the summit of Sawel peak in Northern Ireland while training to fly carrier-based aircraft in anticipation of further possible conflict. The Hellcat was a primary weapon of the war in the Pacific. Smith was from Exley Head, Yorkshire, and served with the Royal Navy’s Fleet in Eglinton. He died on the same day the US dropped The Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, a milestone that effectively helped end the Second World War.
The wreckage from the crash was recently recovered by aviation archaeologist Jonny McNee, assisted by a group of pupils from Foyle College. McNee has been working with pupils at the school for seven years to excavate and recover plane crash wreckage in Northern Ireland. McNee has issued an appeal to help find family members and relatives of PO Smith, saying that many of the plane crashes in the area were fatal due to the hilly landscape surrounding Eglinton airstrip, where many military flights took place.
Jill Anderson, a relative with a distant connection to Smith, commented that hearing the news of the wreckage discovery was nice and important because Smith has a memorial in Exley Head, and it is an area where everybody knows everyone. Smith is laid to rest at St. Canice’s Church of Ireland in Faughanvale, County Londonderry.
Northern Ireland, particularly the north-west, served as a site for much military flight training. It was an ideal location due to its proximity to the Battle of the Atlantic, yet being strategically out of range from German aircraft. The hilly landscape that surrounds Eglinton airstrip offered perfect training routes and locations to hold aircraft
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