William's Story
Heather Cappabianca is an American lady, living in South Carolina but originally from Connecticut. Her father served as a soldier in the U.S. Army in WW2; her grandfather fought in WW1, both with great distinction. Heather is researching their military records and contacted The RAF at Omaha Beach website in 2025:
I have been writing a biography about a family member and came across your excellent web site.
While reading Muir Adair’s account, I came across a paragraph in Chapter 5 and immediately recognized a description of my father, Corporal William Smyth. To clarify, he was a Corporal in the U.S. Army (not a Ranger) when he arrived with the 149th AA Operation Detachment stationed at Weston-super-Mare. He was assigned as one of five liaison personnel to a composite British unit, landing with them on Omaha Beach on D-Day. The physical description also matches, he was 5’7” and of slight build.
He did survive the landing and rejoined his detachment, progressing through France, Belgium and Germany with the 9th Tactical Air Command (TAC), the 49th Brigade and the 1st Army. He attained the rank of Sargent and received the British Military Medal from Field Marshall Sir Bernard Montgomery for his actions on D-Day.
The detail in Heather’s email about her father was interesting to say the least. Had Cpl Smyth, an American soldier, really been awarded the British Military Medal, and had Field Marshal Montgomery really presented it to him? We asked Heather for more information.
Heather readily replied with cuttings from the family’s local newspaper in Connecticut. “I am attaching a report of William Smyth receiving the British Military Medal from Montgomery,” she wrote. “The hand written notation made on the newspaper copy is March 1945. He had advanced in rank [to Sergeant] since D-Day. As you can see his surname was again misspelled in the caption but not in the clipping from his hometown newspaper.”
The newspaper photo shows Smyth and “Monty” facing one another eye-to-eye. We checked: Bernard Montgomery attended St Paul’s School from 1902 to 1906. The Old Pauline Association confirms he was “only” 5’ 6” tall! Cpl Smyth was 5’ 7”. The photo is consistent with those details.
Heather also sent us a photo of her father’s medals:
This was getting very exciting! The medal on the far right of the five was indeed a British Military Medal, as awarded for Valour to non-commissioned officers. (Officers would have received the Military Cross.) Then our eagle-eyed military expert, Ron Muggleton, spotted a concern. The ribbon on the far right of the bar immediately above the medals did not match!
This is the ribbon from the British Victory Medal, a campaign medal awarded to every serviceman:
This is the ribbon from the British Military Medal, awarded for bravery:
Could Heather explain the difference? She could: it seems that the medal display had been made by a family friend in honour of her father, and it was possible that the ribbon for the British Victory Medal had been mistakenly used instead of the British Military Medal. Fair enough. Using Photoshop, The RAF at Omaha Beach website content editor David Heathcote applied a “correction”:
Ron confirmed the other four medals, arranged from left to right, were:
1. Army Good Conduct Medal – Awarded for exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity during three years of active military service. It features an eagle on a circle, resting on a pedestal with the words “Efficiency, Honor, Fidelity.”
2. American Campaign Medal – Recognizes service within the American Theater of Operations during WWII. The medal depicts a Navy cruiser, a B-24 bomber, and a sinking submarine.
3. European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal – Awarded for service in these specific theaters between 1941 and 1945. The bronze stars on the ribbon indicate participation in specific military campaigns.
4. World War II Victory Medal – Awarded to all members of the US Armed Forces who served at any time between December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946. It features a figure of Liberation standing atop a broken war sword.
So far, so good. But something else was worrying David. Why did the London Gazette not mention Cpl Smyth’s award of the Military Medal? The London Gazette is an official journal of record of the Government of the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices – such as the awarding of honours and medals – are required to be published. It should surely have been there. The six other awards – the four Military Crosses and two Military Medals awarded to members of the RADAR team on Omaha Beach were all mentioned.
David tried different spellings of Smyth, to no avail. Then, late one night, exasperated, he typed “Why isn’t an American soldier’s award of a British Military Medal recorded in the London Gazette?” into his search engine. The reply came back in a couple of seconds! Only British and Commonwealth medal awards are announced in the Gazette. Other awards – such as those of a British medal awarded to an American soldier – are still officially recorded, but enquiries must be made of The National Archives in Kew, London.
David typed www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. This is the (electronic) “paper trail” that followed:
And with one final click, Cpl William L Smyth’s Military Medal recommendation was revealed!
David commented, “To say I was excited is a massive understatement. I had learned something new about military awards, and I had tracked down the vital piece of evidence that proved not only that Corporal Smyth had indeed been awarded the British Military Medal, but also why he had been awarded it. His daughter was correct in every detail she had told us. I hastened to share the news with her.”
Heather’s response was immediate by return:
“David, I have no words… except WOW!!!! I am beyond grateful to you for tracking this down and cannot wait to share this with my brother who is the one that provided the picture of his medals. In addition, I will be able to quote and therefore more fully explain his actions on D-Day which is included in the biography of his father.”
She added the following extracts of a letter sent by her father to his mother, dated October 17, 1944:
“Here, as later, I wish to pay tribute to two very brave men of whom you will read more, the Doctor and the Padre. The most undaunted men and greatest comforters on that awful shore.”
“The 88s began to search for us. A knocked-out half-track started to burn and it was loaded with .50MG T 75 mm ammo and we were too late to put it out so we evacuated the men from the immediate area. Shell cases were flying for a long time. They found some of the vehicles and us! We hugged the ground feeling trapped. Still we stuck and waited. The Doctor and Padre were magnificent. The Doctor worked quickly and without thought of his own safety. The Padre helped him and STOOD as he prayed over the dying – neither was touched. I felt a few spasms of intense fear when [the shells] whooshed down and burst close, bruising me with broken pebbles but no shrapnel, thank God!! I only felt that a few times at first, very soon I felt ‘What the Hell! If he catches me, I’ve had it, so why worry?’ This was my conquest of the fear of fear which had worried me for a while.”
The Doctor was F/Lt Richard Rycroft, MO; the Padre was The Revd Geoffrey Harding.
We are delighted not only to record the bravery of an American soldier on Omaha Beach that day, but also to research further and find the actual commendation document for his Military Medal. Well done, Corporal William L Smyth. Rest In Peace.
Update – One question still remained. Field Marshal Montgomery had undoubtedly presented the Military Medal to Cpl Smyth – but what of the four Military Crosses and two Military Medals? Who had presented those to the officers and men of GCI 15082? Squadron Leader Norman Best had been one of the officers to receive the Military Cross. His son, Peter Best, went back through his father’s papers – which only came to light after his mother’s death in 2004 – and found the following note:
It seems unlikely, then, that any of the medals were presented by King George VI. It appears they came to each recipient via the Royal Mail.
The Padre, The Revd Geoffrey Harding, confirms this in his reminiscence: “I got my beautiful cross in the end by post because the poor King was now a great many months behind in his awards and I was very disappointed that I never actually went to Buck House.”