Date:	Wednesday 23 January 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Miles M-25 Martinet TT Mk 1
Owner/operator:	2 APS RAF
Registration:	NR466
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Spilsby, Great Steeping, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Banner and glider towing
Departure airport:	RAF Spilsby, Great Steeping, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Spilsby, Great Steeping, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Miles M-25 Martinet TT.Mk.1, 2 APS (Armament Practice Station), RAF: Written off (destroyed) 23-1-46 when collided with another Miles Martinet TT.Mk.1 of 2 APS (MS723) at an altitude of 800 feet over Spilsby, Lincolnshire while engaged on a banner target towing sortie. Martinet MS723 survived, and made a safe emergency landing at RAF Spilsby. The crew of Martinet MS723 survived, the two crew of Martinet NR466 did not

Crew of Martinet NR466:
W/O (656628) Harry Victor WHITLING (Pilot, aged 26) RAFVR - killed in active service 23-1-46, commemorated at East Finchley Cemetery & St. Marylebone Crematorium, East Finchley, London Borough of Barnet, Greater London, England.
W/O (1523869) Robert CLARKE (Air Gunner, aged 22) RAFVR - killed in active service 23-1-46, buried at West Auckland Cemetery, West Auckland, Durham Unitary Authority, County Durham, England

Warrant Officer Clarke was officially an Air Gunner, but on this sortie, he was acting as the target towing winch operator. W/O Robert Clarke was from West Auckland in County Durham, and had become a P.o.W after Halifax LL183 was shot down in May 1944.

The reported crash location of RAF Spilsby is a former Royal Air Force station during the Second World War and the Cold War located in the rural village of Great Steeping, near the market town of Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.29 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.45
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.94: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. https://www.bcar.org.uk/1945-49-incident-logs
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?10908-Loss-Martinet-NR466-2-A-P-S-Spilsby-23-01-46
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2432494/harry-victor-whitling/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2697104/robert-clarke/
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59824455/harry-victor-whitling
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159461758/robert-clarke
11. https://thefallenservicemenofsouthwestcountydurham.wordpress.com/clarke-robert/
12. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=48829
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Spilsby

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Jun-2021 23:21	Dr. John Smith	Added
03-Jun-2021 08:58	Emil	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator]
23-Jul-2023 17:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator]]