Notes
Harry Noël Smith, known as Noël, was born on 25 December 1911, the only son of Agnes (née Peden) and Henry Edward Smith, an insurance manager. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy from 1919 to 1921, where he was a member of the History Club and won the Mill Prize for English. Noël Smith entered Worcester College, Oxford, on 9 October 1931 with an exhibition, and achieved 2nd class honours in Modern History in 1934. After leaving university he was articled to Peacock & Goddard, solicitors, and was admitted as a member of the English Law Society in 1937. Correspondence in his student file reveals that he enjoyed playing golf and rugby.
Following the outbreak of war Noël Smith enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, where he trained as a navigator with No. 5 Operational Training Unit and rose to the rank of Sergeant. In the early hours of 14 January 1942 Noël Smith and his crew took off from RAF Chivenor in Devon in a Beaufort aircraft for a navigational exercise. The aircraft crashed at Marwood killing all on board, including Sergeant Noël Smith, who was 30 years old.
Noël Smith is buried at St Augustine’s Church, Heaton Pumchardon in Devon. He is commemorated on the war memorials at Edinburgh Academy, Murrayfield Golf Club, Aviva PLC and Worcester College, Oxford.