Date:	Thursday 4 November 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIV
Owner/operator:	CFE RAF
Registration:	RM694
MSN:	6S-432268
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF West Raynham, Fakenham, Norfolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF West Raynham, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF West Raynham, Norfolk

Narrative:
RM694: Spitfire XIV, MSN 6S-432268. Built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Chattis Hill with Griffon G65 engine. To 33 MU RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire 10-7-44. To 91 (Nigeria) Squadron on the 18-7-44 which was then based at the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) of Deanland in Sussex.

Flying over 30 V1 interception missions, on Monday 7-8-44, RM694 at 06.01hrs and flown by Flying Officer A R Elcock, shot down a VI Doodlebug. Watching it crash near Etchingham, Flying Officer Elcock reported:

“Owing to half-light I was uncertain of my position when first sighted Diver. Attack was made from 150yds astern and Diver fell in open countryside ten miles north-north east of Etchingham with jet unit still functioning”.

Shortly after this RM694 was transferred to No. 402 (City of Winnipeg) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force based at RAF Hawkinge near Folkestone. From her it flew numerous bomber escort missions.

With the advance of the allies on the Continent the squadron was relocated to B.70/Deurne near Antwerp, Belgium on 30-9-44. Flown by the CO of 402 Sqn, Squadron Leader W G Dodd shortly after arrival, the Spitfire suffered an engine failure and was forced to land 1.5 miles north of Koksijde where it sustained Category. B damage (beyond repair on site but repairable at a maintenance unit or contractors works). RM694 was sent to an Air Service Training Ltd for repair, these being completed by 21-4-45.

It did not return to the squadron but was sent to No. 6 MU at RAF Brize Norton on 13-5-45 To CFE (Central Fighter Establishment), RAF West Raynham, Norfolk 23-11-45

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when struck Spitfire RM925 (also of the CFE) after landing at RAF West Raynham, Fakenham, Norfolk 4-11-48. Spitfire RM925 ran into the rear of Spitfire RM694 at the end of the landing run. The cause of the incident was the lack of the pilot's forward visibility, when the aircraft was on the ground in a "tail down, nose up" attitude

Not repaired: Re-cat E (G/I) to ground instructional airframe 6640M with 5 SoTT (School of Technical Training) RAF Hornchurch, Essex 25-2-49. By May 1950, placed outside the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre as a 'gate guardian'. It remained exposed to the elements for 15 years until the station closed in 1963 when it was ‘Struck off Charge’ and sent to RAF Dishforth for disposal.

The Spitfire now began a life of constant owners beginning with A H ‘Bunny’ Brooks, a garage owner who purchased the aircraft for £250! By agreement the wings were dismantled and were used to return a Belgian Spitfire, NH904, to display condition. In a further disposal the fuselage was sold to J D Kay of Manchester Tankers Ltd in 1966. At this time consideration was given to using RM694 in the Battle of Britain film by Simpsons Aero Services at Elstree but upon inspection the airframe was rejected and returned to RAF Henlow until returned to Charnock Richards in March 1968.

Acquired by A W Francis in January 1969 the aircraft was moved to Southend Airport and placed in open storage before being passed through several owners, the first of which was Bill Francis. He sold RM694 to John Lowe and Larry Mat of Chicago and the aircraft began a new life in the United States. In 1985 it was returned to the UK and into the hands of Doug Arnold and his Warbirds company. Sold four years later to an American, Don L Knapp in Florida it was later purchased by another American, Vern Schuppen also living in Florida. It was stored here for many years before once again returning to the UK and into storage at High Wycombe. In early 2021 the aircraft was transported to the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar and into the hands of the Spitfire Company (Biggin Hill) Ltd for a full restoration back to flight. In anticipation of this, the UK civil registration G-BDKL was allocated on 30-3-2009.

RM694 has a remarkably complete fuselage with all the original cockpit controls and systems still in place and untouched. This is, without doubt, one of the most original fuselages left to be restored. With this in mind it is intended for this historically significant Spitfire to remain at Biggin Hill.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.445
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. CFE RAF ORB for the period 1946-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1349: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101059
5. "RAF Write offs 1948": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.1 1979: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p096.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/RM694
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/102041-rm694
9. https://flyaspitfire.com/2021/02/11/mk-xiv-spitfire-rm694-arrives-at-biggin-hill-for-restoration/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._91_Squadron_RAF#World_War_II
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/402_Squadron#The_Second_World_War
12. https://derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/37592/hoylake-spitfires-rm694-nh904-auster
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Fighter_Establishment
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_West_Raynham#Postwar

Spitfire F.XIV RM694 (G-DBKL) at Biggin Hill, Kent, UK 29-4-2022

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Apr-2023 12:39	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Aug-2023 16:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated