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Norman-Smith , Peter Ian (P I)

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Photo of Norman-Smith
Identity
Person No.
32305
Old ROH no.
2140
Service No.
P1/35007
Last Name
Norman-Smith 1
First Name
Peter Ian
Initials
P I
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1922 (±1 yr) 602
Age at Death
29
Death Record
Date of Death
03 December 1951 92
Cause code
KIA 14,781
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,655
Killed in action, in North American F-51 Mustang #341. Lt P.I. Norman-Smith was leader of four "A" Flight Mustangs returning to base, following a successful mission. After becoming disorientated due to cloud encountered, Lt Norman-Smith contacted Control and requested a course to steer to K-46. He was told to stand by, as Control was busy with another emergency. He then tried to contact K-14 and K-16 airfields, without success, but at an altitude of 1000 feet he noticed the Han River below them. The flight proceeded to follow the river, intending to land at K-16 Seoul. While approaching Seoul in clear weather, Lt Norman-Smith's aircraft was suddenly rammed by the No.3 aircraft in his flight, piloted by 2Lt K.R. Whitehead. Both aircraft promptly crashed into the Han River, their pilots being killed
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Lieutenant
Regiment
2 Squadron 109
Corps
South African Air Force 3,523
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
UDF 24,808
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,847
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
UNITED NATIONS PUSAN MEMORIAL 26
Grave Reference
Panel 13 23
Memorial
Approach walkways to the Wall of Remembrance, UNMCK, Busan. Photo: Bubbahotepblues, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wall_of_Remembrance,_UN_Memorial_Cemetery,_Busan,_South_Korea.jpg)
Names on Panel 13
Memorial
United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK)
Location
Tanggok, Nam District, Busan, South Korea
Address
woonam-ro 93beon-gil 93, Nam-gu, Busan, South Korea
Coordinates
35.12845, 129.09623 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Panel 13
On the panel
Panel 13
Unit History
Part of
Rhodesian Air Force - Squadrons
Notes

ref. 85 years of SAAF

Research notes

Michael Krohn email 25 Aug 2026: two inscription errors on Panel 13 of the United Nations Memorial at Pusan, South Korea (UNMCK). The wall shows LIEUTENANT P. J. MORMAN-SMITH — initial I (Ian) cut as J, and the N of Norman cut as M. ROH name Peter Ian Norman-Smith / initials P I left correct. Col (Ret.) Dirk Louw, President/Chairman of the South African Korean War Veterans Association, investigated and asked the South African Embassy whether it could be corrected. A granite correction would require replacing the whole slab (about R2 million at the time, originator's account) and was judged not financially viable. Photo of the inscribed line attached to the email. | Locality was wrongly set to "Gauteng" -- corrected 28 Aug 2026 (second pass, this time verified against Cemetery rather than AddInfo text, after the first AddInfo-based pass was found to be unreliable and reverted). This person's own Cemetery is unambiguously outside South Africa; several other people at the same cemetery already correctly show a blank Locality. Cleared rather than guessed at a specific region.
5 Sep 2026: Unit "2 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
on 02 July 2001 · via source
Lt P.I. Norman-Smith was leader of four "A" Flight Mustangs returning to base, following a successful mission. After becoming disorientated due to cloud encountered, Lt Norman-Smith contacted Control and requested a course to steer to K-46. He was told to stand by, as Control was busy with another emergency. He then tried to contact K-14 and K-16 airfields, without success, but at an altitude of 1000 feet he noticed the Han River below them. The flight proceeded to follow the river, intending to land at K-16 Seoul. While approaching Seoul in clear weather, Lt Norman-Smith's aircraft was suddenly rammed by the No.3 aircraft in his flight, piloted by 2Lt K.R. Whitehead. Both aircraft promptly crashed into the Han River, their pilots being killed. 2Lt Whitehead's body was recovered, and buried in the UN cemetery at Pusan.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.