Date:	Wednesday 10 July 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire HF. IX
Owner/operator:	164 (Argentine-British) Sqn RAF
Registration:	TD363
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Clarendon Park, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
TD363: Spitfire HF. IX. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M70 engine. To 33MU RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire 5-4-45. To 164 (Argentine-British) Squadron RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire 24-6-45

Written off (destroyed) 10-7-46 when dived into ground from high altitude near Clarendon Park, near Salisbury, Wiltshire. Pilot killed. The aircraft was seen to dive out of cloud, and fail to pull out of its dive. Although the cause of the Spitfire's fatal dive was never conclusively proven, it was strongly suspected that the pilot had passed out due to anoxia (oxygen starvation), and never recovered from unconsciousness in order to recover from the terminal dive.

Crew of Spitfire TD363
F/Sgt (1588635) Arnold Mercer (pilot) RAFVR- killed on active service 10-7-46; buried at St Peters Churchyard, Over Wallop, Hampshire

Damaged assessed as Cat E 10-7-46. Struck Off Charge 25-7-46 as Cat. E(FA)

According to a brief biography of the Pilot:
"R. A. F. Flight Officer Arnold Mercer was a cadet in 1944 when he was sent to the Spartan school of aeronautics in Miami, Oklahoma, USA. While there he met Marjorie Allen, a graduate of Northeast Oklahoma Teachers' college. The two fell in love and even though Arnold returned home to England after only a few weeks the couple maintained a romance over the next year and a half while Arnold was stationed first in Edinburgh, Scotland and then Andover, England.

On June 20, 1946 Marjorie set sail from New York City aboard the RMS Queen Mary bound for Southampton, England. The Queen Mary was in the service of the British military during WWII and did not resume civilian life until 1947. At the end of WWII in 1945 the Queen Mary, among other duties, served as transport for hundreds of war brides who emigrated to America. Arnold and Marjorie were among the minority of couples whose marriage travelled west to east.

Marjorie arrived in Southhampton on June 26. The couple were wed on June 29 in St Andrews church, Preston, England. His parents, Fred and Hilda Mercer, lived in Preston and attended the nuptials. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon week in Blackpool.

Eleven days after the wedding Arnold was killed during a routine training flight when his Spitfire crashed near Salisbury.

Less than two weeks a bride, Marjorie joined her in-laws at the funeral".

Clarendon Park is a Grade I listed building, estate and civil parish near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The parish is almost entirely farmland, with parkland and gardens around the 18th-century house. In the southwest the parish extends to the Petersfinger area on the western outskirts of Salisbury, and the west bank of the Salisbury Avon.

NOTE: Some published sources state that Spitfire TD363 crashed near Newmarket, Suffolk. This is incorrect - the fact that the pilot's death was recorded by the Coroner at Salisbury, Wiltshire, proves that the crash was in the vicinity of Salisbury Wiltshire.

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.182
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 164 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-4-1942 to 31-8-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1085/67: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8390557
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.101: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p108.html
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/80845-td363
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=TD363
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2439053/arnold-mercer/
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88890286/arnold-mercer
11. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TD363
12. https://www.rafcommands.com/archive/11685.php
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._164_Squadron_RAF#Background
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAC_Middle_Wallop#RAF_/_RNAS_use
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarendon_Park,_Wiltshire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Jun-2023 01:37	Dr. John Smith	Added
18-Jun-2023 09:09	Nepa	Updated
23-Jun-2023 18:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated
15-Sep-2023 11:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated