ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 278707
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| Date: | Tuesday 3 November 1942 |
| Time: | c. 11:40 |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIb |
| Owner/operator: | 53 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | P8692 |
| MSN: | CBAF |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Aircraft missing |
| Location: | Sea off the coast of Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Llandow, Glamorgan, Wales |
| RAF Llandow |
Spitfire P8692 went missing during a formation flying exercise. The flight of four aircraft, led by an instructor, entered a layer of cloud at 3,000 feet, not far from Llandow, and heading towards the coast. When climbing in the cloud the missing aircraft was seen to become " unsteady " and losing height. When the Spitfires emerged into clear sky again P8692 could not be seen, and there was no response to R/T calls.
The Spitfire is believed to have crashed in the sea, and was written off the books
This accident appears to be a case of a relatively inexperienced pilot losing control of an aircraft in instrument flying conditions with insufficient height available for recovery.
The pilot, Sgt Bruce Oliver Kingsley McROBERTS ( 412563 ) RAAF, is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
R.I.P.
Details:
To raise funds for the war effort the 'Spitfire Fund' was created, and 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, pilots and aircrew sometimes painted personal names on aircraft. These were not official presentation machines.
P8692 was one such aircraft built with funds raised by the Smiths Ltd company, famous for their crisps after which this Spitfire was named.
A Castle Bromwich aircraft, fitted out at 12MU on the 25th of May 1941. Her first squadron was to be No222 (Natal) Squadron, arriving on the 26th of June. Her first patrol took place on the 2nd of July 1941 as part of ‘Black Section’ and flown by P/O Sanders. Frequent patrolling and escort duties flown by her regular pilot, P/O Lyons followed until she, and her fellow stablemates were superseded by the mark fives on the 21st of August. She was transferred to No.132 (City of Bombay) Squadron during November. The squadron reformed in 1941 as a fighter unit providing air defence from Peterhead in Scotland. P8692 flew her first patrol on the 30th, then during the morning of the 1st of December she collided with P8518 whilst taking off, injuring both pilots. Sgt R. Graham in P8692 and Sgt Mercer in P8518 at 09:10 hours.
She finally arrived at 53 OTU on the 8th of October 1942 after extensive repairs which was unusual at this stage of the war and the availability of Spitfires coming off the assembly lines, but the demand for Spitfires with the Training Units was still as evident as ever.
Less than a month later, P8692 went missing during a formation flying exercise. The flight of four aircraft, led by an instructor, entered a layer of cloud at 3,000 feet, heading towards the coast and climbing, in cloud, P8692 was seen to become " unsteady " and losing height. When the formation emerged into clear sky P8692 was nowhere to be seen, and no response to R/T calls. It is believed that P8692 had crashed into the sea and was listed as missing with the pilot believed killed.
Crew:
Sgt Bruce Oliver Kingsley McRoberts 21yo 412563 RAAF. Pilot. Missing/Killed.
Son of Oliver James McRoberts & Margret Elizabeth McRoberts of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Buried:
Runnymede Memorial. Panel 113.
Wreckage:
At sea, unknown.
Memorials:
Australian War Memorial.
Bruce Oliver Kingsley McRoberts's name will be projected onto the exterior of the Hall of Memory on:
Tue 27 December 2022 at 10:19pm
Mon 17 April 2023 at 8:41pm
Runnymede Memorial.
CWGC Memorial web page.
Sources:
Spitfire Production List
RAF Commands Forum
RAFWEB Casualties 1942
https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RC09125.018/document/6019488.PDF
www.airhistory.org.uk
www.awm.gov.au
www.rafcommands.com
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 22 October 1940 | P7364 | 74 Sqn RAF | 0 | Hadlow Place, Tonbridge, Kent, England | |
w/o |
| 24 April 1941 | P7531 | 91 Sqn RAF | 0 | Sea off Ramsgate, Kent, England | |
w/o |
| 9 August 1941 | P8670 | 315 ( Deblinski ) Sqn RAF | 0 | Little Waldingfield, Suffolk, England | |
w/o |
| 9 August 1941 | P8676 | 308 (Krakowski) Sqn RAF | 1 | Ruislip, Middlesex, England | |
w/o |
| 7 September 1941 | P8716 | 452 Sqn RAAF | 1 | Near Cane Hill Hospital, Coulsdon, Surrey, England | |
w/o |
| Mid-air collision | ||||||
| 24 November 1941 | P8661 | 3 ADF RAF | 1 | Near Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales | |
w/o |
| 8 January 1942 | P8702 | 350 (Belgium) Sqn RAF | 0 | Near RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales | |
w/o |
| Mid-air collision | ||||||
| 14 January 1942 | P8666 | 504 (County of Nottingham) Sqn RAF | 0 | Near Kirkistown, County Down, Northern Ireland | |
w/o |
| 28 January 1942 | P8697 | 54 Sqn RAF | 1 | Near RAF Castletown, Caithness, Scotland | |
w/o |
| 10 April 1942 | P8710 | 129 (Mysore) Sqn RAF | 0 | Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, England | |
w/o |
| 17 June 1942 | BM521 | 602 ( City of Glasgow ) Sqn RAF | 1 | Cuckfield nr Horsham, Sussex, England | |
w/o |
| 8 July 1942 | P8706 | 164 (Argentine-British) Sqn RAF | 0 | Near RAF Skeabrae, Orkney, Scotland | |
w/o |
| 24 December 1942 | BM326 | 165 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF | 1 | 4 miles southeast of Horsham, Sussex, England | |
w/o |
| 26 February 1943 | P8720 | 501 (City of Gloucester) Sqn RAF | 0 | Golf Course at Cloughey, south of Ballyhalbert, Ireland | |
w/o |
| 6 March 1943 | P8010 | CGS RAF | 0 | Pandora Sand, The Wash, 7 miles north of Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England | |
w/o |
| 7 March 1943 | P8574 | 52 OTU RAF | 1 | Slimbridge, Gloucester, England | |
w/o |
| 6 April 1943 | P8671 | 57 OTU RAF | 0 | Goswick Sands, Northumberland, England | |
w/o |
| 2 July 1943 | P8694 | 58 OTU RAF | 1 | Drip Moss Farm, Westhaugh, about 2.5 miles NW of Stirling, Scotland | |
w/o |
| 9 July 1943 | BM323 | 19 Sqn RAF | 1 | Millbank Farm near RAF Newchurch, Newchurch, Kent, England | |
w/o |
| 1 October 1943 | P8675 | AFDU RAF | 0 | RAF Dalton, North Yorkshire, England | |
w/o |
| 18 October 1943 | P8693 | 2 TEU RAF | 1 | Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland | |
w/o |
| 26 January 1944 | P8665 | 61 OTU RAF | 1 | Ruthin, 4 miles north of Gellifor, Denbighshire, Wales | |
w/o |
| 6 June 1944 | EN821 | 808 NAS FAA RN | 1 | English Channel near le Havre, France |  |
w/o |
| 13 June 1944 | MK235 | 421 (Red Indian) Sqn RCAF | 1 | The English Channel, about 8 miles off the English coast | |
w/o |
| 20 September 1944 | P8660 | CGS RAF | 0 | RAF Catfoss, Yorkshire, England | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Jun-2022 19:20 | angels one five | Added |
| 11-Jun-2022 18:53 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Jun-2022 21:10 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 03-Nov-2022 14:39 | Davies 62 | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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