Date:	Monday 3 March 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	208 Sqn RAF
Registration:	SM137
MSN:	CBAF IX.4764
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Em Shemer, Shomon Region, 6km east of Hadera, Palestine -   Israel
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Ramat David, Ramat Yishay, Palestine
Destination airport:	Em Shemer, Palestine
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
SM137: Spitfire LF. IX, MSN CBAF.IX.4764. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M66 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 20-9-44. To 215MU RAF Locharbriggs, Dumfries 25-9-44 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. To 1 PATP then shipped on the 'LS.1353' 24-10-44, arriving Casablanca. Morocco 3-11-44. To Middle East Air Command 2-8-45. To 208 Squadron RAF, which was based at Em Shemer, Shomon Region, 6km east of Hadera, Palestine between 6-6-46 and 26-3-48 with the Supermarine Spitfire.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 3-3-47 when landed with undercarriage unlocked at RAF Em Shemer, Shomon Region, 6km East of Hadera, Palestine. As the undercarriage was not "down and locked" (and the pilot had failed to check that this was the case) the undercarriage of Spitfire SM137 collapsed immediately upon touchdown. The aircraft then sustained substantial damage as it slid along the runway at RAF En Shemer before coming to a halt. The pilot was apparently unhurt.

Damage assessed as Cat E 3-3-47. Not repaired, Struck Off Charge 27-3-47 as Cat. E2(FA)

RAF Ein Shemer was a Royal Air Force station in Palestine between 1942 and 1948. Before 1948 it was operated by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) as RAF Ein Shemer. During this time, "RAF Ein Shemer was the largest military airfield in the country" and hosted "seven...RAF squadrons and 1,500 RAF personnel. It served as the workplace for as many as 600, mainly Arab, workers. This made it, in the opinion of its Commanding Officer, 'the largest camp of its sort for civilian labour in the Middle East'"

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.275
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. ORB 208 Sqn RAF for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2465: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505103
5. "RAF Write offs 1947": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.2 1978: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1978.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p099.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/SM137
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/87857-sm137
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=SM137
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._208_Squadron_RAF#After_World_War_II
11. Oral History of 208 Sqn in 1948-49: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80032975
12. 208 Squadron Association Newsletter: http://www.naval8-208-association.com/History1945-50Page09.html
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramat_David_Airbase#RAF_Ramat_David
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ein_Shemer_Airfield#RAF_Ein_Shemer

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Sep-2023 08:39	Nepa	Updated
06-Sep-2023 00:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated