SPENT 8 DAYS ABOARD RAFT
Hamilton County Sailor Survived Ship Sinking in Atlantic.
Another Hamilton county war casualty is Maynard Smith, 19, of Williams, now is a navy hospital in New York City recovering from injured received when his ship was torpedoed in the South Atlantic. He is a gunner and was aboard a merchantman which was torpedoed about July 1. He floated about on a raft for eight days before he was picked up by an American boat send out to scout the sea. Many of the crew were drowned.
He suffered much from oil in his eyes and from injuries to his back. He reached New York about July 20. Word to relatives is to the effect that he is recovering nicely and will probably go back into service soon.
Gunner Smith enlisted July 20, 1942 and took his boot training at Great Lakes and was then sent to Army Center, Brooklyn, N. Y., for his gunnery training. He was at Casablanca during the Roosevelt-Churchill conference and on his return trip, the Berlin radio four times announced the torpedoing of his ship—an untrue report, of course.
He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. John Smith who lived in Williams until last spring when they moved to Waterloo. Gunner Smith also has a brother, Eugene, also in the navy quartermaster corps since Dec. 1, 1942. He has been to Cuba and back. On the return trip an attempt was made to torpedo his ship, but it escaped due to its light craft. He is now in a camp near Washington, D. C.
Source: Webster City Freeman, Aug. 5, 1943
Maynard Louis Smith was born Jan. 28, 1923 to John and Ada Shane Smith. He died Mar. 4, 2002 and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Covina, CA.
Maynard served with the U.S. Navy in World War II.
Source: ancestry.com
