Date:	Thursday 28 October 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 24
Owner/operator:	80 Sqn RAF
Registration:	VN319
MSN:	KEA.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hombrink, Castrop-Rauxel, Recklinghausen, BZG, West Germany -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Destination airport:

Narrative:
VN319: Spitfire F.24, built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire with Griffon G61 engine. To 33MU RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire 4-7-46. To 80 Squadron, RAF Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, West Germany as 'W2-D' 18-2-48.

Written off (destroyed) 28-10-48 in a mid-air collision with Spitfire VN323 (also of 80 Squadron, RAF) and crashed at Hombrink, Castrop-Rauxel, Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, BZG, West Germany. Spitfire VN319 was leading a formation of 80 Squadron Spitfire F.24s, when it was struck from below and behind by another 80 Squadron Spitfire F.24 (VN323). The pilot of Spitfire VN319 attempted to bail out, but his parachute opened before he had left the cockpit, and he sustained fatal injuries.

The pilot of Spitfire VN319 was Squadron Leader Richard Alfred Newberry DFC and Bar, a vey distinguished pilot, who was commanding officer of 80 Squadron at the time. He had accumulated over 1,800 flying hours in total, including 1,300 flying hours on Spitfires

Crew of Spitfire VN319:
Squadron Leader (60104) Richard Alfred Newberry DFC and Bar, RAF (pilot) - killed on active service 28-10-48

Richard Alfred Newbery RAF No 60104; Enlisted in the RAFVR in May 1940 and was commissioned LAC (Leading Aircraftman) in Jan 1941 on completion of his flying training. Having attended OTU he then joined 501 Squadron in March of that year and a year later (March 1942) was posted to 118 Squadron as a flight commander where he was awarded a DFC, Gazetted on the 23rd June 1942 and a Bar to this on the 4th June 1943.

Promoted to Squadron Leader, Richard Alfred Newbury D.F.C. and Bar took over command of No. 610 ('County of Chester') Squadron in January 1944. He remained commanding officer until February 1945. During his tenure as the 'old man', the squadron was involved heavily involved in anti-diver patrols against V-1 flying bombs. Squadron Leader Newbury shot down 8 'Doodlebugs'. During Newbury's time with No. 610 Squadron, his 'personal' aircraft was Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XIV, s/n RB159 and carried the code DW-D.

He finished the War with 3 destroyed, 2 probable, 3 and 1 shared damaged, and 8 and 2 shared V1 Bombs destroyed.

Castrop-Rauxel, often simply referred to as Castrop by locals, is a former coal mining city in the eastern part of the Ruhr Area in Germany. Castrop-Rauxel is located in Germany between Dortmund to the southeast, Bochum to the southwest, Herne to the west, Recklinghausen to the northwest, Datteln to the north and Waltrop to the northeast.

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.484
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 80 Squadron ORB 1-1-1946 to 31-12-50: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2434/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8439303
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/p114.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/VN319
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/79816-vn319
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._80_Squadron_RAF#Post-World_War_II_and_disbandment
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrop-Rauxel

ACTING FLIGHT LIEUTENANT RICHARD ALFRED NEWBERRY, NO.118 SQUADRON - AWARDED D.F.C. © IWM (CH 2795) Photo of the pilot of Spitfire VN319, Squadron Leader Richard Alfred Newberry DFC and Bar, taken when with 118 Squadron RAF circa June 1942

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Aug-2023 17:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated
16-Aug-2023 17:49	Nepa	Updated