Date:	Friday 27 September 1946
Time:
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	336 Sqn RHAF
Registration:	JK885
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Paliouria Beach, Melivoia, Larissa, Thessaly -   Greece
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Larissa AB, Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece
Destination airport:

Narrative:
JK885: Spitfire Vc. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M45 engine. To 39MU RAF Colerene, Chippenham, Wiltshire 12-3-43. To 222MU 29-3-43 for packing and crating for overseas shipment. Shipped on the 'R.680' 11-4-43, arriving Casablanca, Morocco 25-4-43. To North West Africa 31-5-43. To 336 Squadron, RAF. To 417 Squadron. To 185 Squadron in Malta, then Sicily 1-8-43. To (MAAF) Mediterranean Allied Air Force 1-11-43. To RAF Middle East 30-11-43. To 32 Squadron. To 10 Squadron SAAF, To 3 Squadron SAAF. To 87 Squadron. To 336 Squadron RHAF (Royal Hellenic Air Force) 25-4-46

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 27-9-46 when crashed in force-landing on a beach near Tyrnavos, Greece. While flying over the sea, the Spitfire's engine failed due to a leak of the glycol coolant. The pilot therefore turned towards the coast to attempt a landing. The pilot - Flight Lieutenant Tstotsos (Royal Hellenic Air Force) - was compelled to put the aircraft down on a beach at Paliouria, some 45 miles (65 km) to the east of Tyrnavos.

On touchdown, the wings were ripped off, and the pilot sustained injuries. The wrecked Spitfire was later looted and burned by local insurgents.

Tyrnavos (Greek: Τύρναβος) is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. It is the second-largest town of the Larissa regional unit, after Larissa. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain.

Paliouria (Greek: Παλιουριά); (also called Paliurgia, Παλιουργιά), is a beach in the regional unit of Melivoia.

1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.225
2. http://aviationarchaeology.gr/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Supermarine-Spitfire-losses-in-Greece-1942-1953.pdf
3. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p052.html
5. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/JK885
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/100715-jk885
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/336th_Bomber_Squadron_(HAF)#Post-war_history
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrnavos
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paliouria_%28Larissa%29

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2023 19:39	Dr. John Smith	Added
31-May-2023 19:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated
31-May-2023 21:09	Nepa	Updated
13-Sep-2023 12:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated