ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 161508
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| Date: | Friday 13 February 1942 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa |
| Owner/operator: | 61 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | P7743 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Llandevenny, Monmouthshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Rednal, Shropshire |
| Return. |
Presentation aircraft ' Brentwood '.
Crashed in a forced landing.
Initially Cat.B, then to AST and recat.E, 20/5/42.
Details:
After the drain of the RAF fighter during the intense period of action during the Battle of Britain from enemy action and wear and tear of aircraft being flown well over their official hour limits etc. The ‘Buy a Spitfire or The Spitfire Fund’ was created soon after.
The cost of a Spitfire was set at a nominal £5000, and individuals, businesses and communities could have a Spitfire inscribed with a name of their choice if the requisite amount was raised.
The funds eventually raised over £13 million. An eclectic range of names appeared, from the obvious to the mysterious.
The individual aircraft history cards were generally marked with the name, but this was not always done.
P7743 was a Castle Bromwich aircraft and was paid for from funds raised in Brentwood. ‘The name was assumed by some in the 1700s to derive from a corruption of the words 'burnt' and 'wood', with the name Burntwood still visible on some 18th-century maps. However, brent was the middle English for "burnt". The name describes the presumed reason for settlement in the part of the Forest of Essex (later Epping Forest) that would have covered the area, where a major occupation was charcoal burning’.
The town needed no incentive to buy a Spitfire as this text shows.
‘During World War II, over 1,000 bombs were dropped on Brentwood, with 19 flying bombs (V1), 32 long-range rockets (V2) and many incendiary bombs and parachute mines. 5,038 houses were destroyed, 389 people were injured and 43 died. The 15th- and 16th-century pubs, however, survived. Brentwood had been considered a safe enough haven to evacuate London children here - 6,000 children arrived in September 1939 alone.’
The first ‘Presentation’ Spitfire was N3164 and carried the name ’East India’. P7743 was number 42. P7743 went to 9MU for fitting and storage, then its first squadron was No 66Sqn RAF, she arrived on the 21st of March 1941. She didn’t stay long, being transferred to No 118Sqn on the 9th of April. She then served with 403Sqn RCAF, which was the first Canadian squadron to be formed overseas during the war. Here she received the radio code ‘KH-Q’. Here she stayed for only a month, before going to 54 squadron on the 4th of August, then 457 Sqn RAAF on the 28th of October at RAF Anderas on the Isle of Man until the 21st of December when she came to 61 OTU at RAF Rednal.
Only after another two months P7743 was on a routine navigation exercise when the pilot had to conduct a wheels up forced landing that resulted in it crashing at Llandevenny, just a mile west of the village of Magor. After recovery, it was first thought she only suffered a cat’ B. Which is repairable, but after disassembly it was found that she had suffered far more severe damage (Probably a cracked spar) and she was re-categorised as E and struck off charge on the 20th of May 1942.
Crew:
Unknown. But safe.
Wreckage:
All removed.
Sources:
Spitfire production list
www.brentwood.gov.uk
www.gaetanmarie.com
nationalarchives.gov.uk
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Oct-2013 09:05 | angels one five | Added |
| 18-Jun-2015 17:15 | Angel dick one | Updated [Operator, Narrative] |
| 01-Feb-2021 10:37 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Jan-2022 06:55 | Davies 62 | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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