Shropshire family’s Second World War heroes remembered after portrait discovery

A Shropshire family’s wartime history has been brought back into focus after a portrait of a decorated RAF officer killed on D-Day was identified at a collection in Cambridgeshire.

Squadron Leader Martin Bryan-Smith DFC and Bar was one of twin brothers who both died serving with Bomber Command during the Second World War.

His nephew, Chris Bryan-Smith, has researched the brothers’ lives and shared their story in an article which came to the attention of Johnny Clifford, curator of the Bomber Command Pathfinder Collection at RAF Wyton.

Mr Clifford realised that a portrait of an unidentified airman, which he had bought at auction and proudly displayed at the collection, was in fact Martin.

He said: "I was stunned when I saw the painting online. I had bought the painting at an auction just because he was wearing the Pathfinder Eagle, but I had no idea who he was.

"It felt like another brave airman had been recognised for his sacrifice."

Martin's twin brother, Anthony Bryan-Smith, was killed in 1940 when his Hampden aircraft crashed north of the Humber estuary while returning from a mine-laying mission.

Martin's Lancaster, known as Z-Zebra, was shot down over the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, during the D-Day operations.

The family has a connection to Shropshire through Chris's father, Paul, who moved to the county after serving with the Royal Artillery during the war.

When war broke out, the twins were living in Beoley, near Redditch, with their sister, Milred, who later became Lady Norton, and Paul.

Chris said he was delighted to hear from Mr Clifford about the portrait and was honoured to visit RAF Wyton.

He said: "I was very surprised and thrilled when I had a call from Johnny Clifford to tell me there was a portrait of Martin in the collection and was honoured to be welcomed at RAF Wyton soon afterwards – I felt it was the twins nudging me again."

Mr Bryan-Smith said his family rarely spoke about the brothers when he was growing up because their deaths were too painful to discuss.

Around 2005, he began researching Martin online and discovered details of his final mission in official Operations Record Books, which recorded the daily activities of RAF squadrons.

One account, written by the crew of another aircraft that took over as lead after Martin's Lancaster was shot down, described the events of that morning.

Mr Bryan-Smith said: "It was incredibly moving to read about the end of a life, and interesting how casual some of the report was."

The account included the words "saw Z-Zebra go down" and ended with the observation: "Beautiful morning, us going in, the Americans going out."

He added: "Since then, they seem to nudge me every so often."

As the Second World War passes from living memory into history, Mr Bryan-Smith said it was important to remember those who served and the sacrifices they made.

The discovery of Martin's portrait has given the family another opportunity to honour the brothers and ensure their story continues to be told.