Date:	Wednesday 31 May 1944
Time:	17:12
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX
Owner/operator:	43 Sqn RAF
Registration:	MH509
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lake Bracciano area -   Italy
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Nettuno L/G
Destination airport:

Narrative:
At 1630 hrs six Spitfires of 43 Sqn RAF took off from Nettuno landing ground for the 5th Anzio-Rome patrol flown by the unit that day. Others had been uneventful but that one saw the first and only losses of the squadron for the month. Two pilots returned early to base with engine problems. The other were flying at 17,000 ft when ten bandits were reported in the Lake Bracciano area at 25,000 ft. Climbing to intercept, Flg Off Cunningham Mclntyre Cassels’ Spitfire IX MJ401 was seen to spin into the lake from 20,000 ft and vanish in a huge sheet of white spray. The formation had just been bounced by Spitfires from another squadron, although it is not clear if they actually opened fire.

Whilst orbiting the place where Cassels had gone in, the three remaining Spitfires were then jumped by a Bf 109. The Spitfires broke away and one of the pilots managed to get in a short burst but no results were seen. After the break, Red 2, Wt Off James Herbert Saville (in Spitfire IX MH509 FT-X), dived away towards the south and called up Red 1 on his radio, saying that he was preparing to land.

Both pilots had been shot down by Fw Alexander Preinfalk of 1./JG 77, who claimed two Spitfires shot down at 1709 hrs near Lake Bracciano and at 1712 hrs over Lake Bracciano as his 71st and 72nd victories.

Word later came through that Cassels had baled out with slight leg injuries and had been picked up by the Germans and taken to hospital in Rome. Saville had force-landed behind enemy lines with burns, and he too was picked up and taken to the same hospital as Cassels. Later, when the Germans withdrew from Rome some days later, they took Cassels with them, although they left Saville behind in the ward, where he was found when Allied troops liberated the area.

ORB of 43 Sqn RAF, May and June 1944 (AIR 27/445-10, AIR 27/445-11 and AIR 27/413-12)
"A history of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945, vol 4 : Sicily and Italy to the Fall of Rome 14 May, 1943 – 5 June 1944", by Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello, Russel Guest, Frank Olynyk, Winfried Bock and Andrew Thomas, ISBN 978-1-911621-10-2, pages 632-633
"Osprey Aviation Elite Units 9: No 43 'Fighting Cocks' Squadron", by Andy Saunders, ISBN 1-84176-439-6, pages 99-100
http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/_prodn%20list.txt
https://www.rafcommands.com/database/awards/details.php?qname=CASSELS&qnum=146889
https://www.rafcommands.com/database/awards/details.php?qname=SAVILLE&qnum=41364
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bracciano
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=42.121111&lon=12.231944&z=12&m=w

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Sep-2023 19:54	Anon.	Updated