ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 267609
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| Date: | Friday 12 September 1941 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia |
| Owner/operator: | 53 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | X4415 |
| MSN: | 1131 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Llandow, Glamorgan, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Llandow, Glamorgan |
| RAF Llandow |
Built at the Eastleigh works and first flew on the 11th September 1940. 6MU the following day then two days later she arrived at RAF Hornchurch on the 14th where 603 Squadron were based after their move south following their defensive roll over Scotland from the very beginning of the war.
In August 1939, the squadron began to transition to Spitfires. As war approached the squadron was put on a full-time footing, and within two weeks of the outbreak of the war the squadron began to receive Spitfires, passing on its Gladiators to other squadrons during October.
Scotland was in range of Nazi Germany's long-range bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. The Luftwaffe's main operations being mainly against the Royal Naval Home Fleet anchored in Scapa Flow. The squadron was operational with Spitfires in time to intercept the first German air raid on the British Isles on 16 October, when it shot down a Junkers Ju 88 bomber into the Firth of Forth north of Port Seton – the first enemy aircraft to be shot down over Great Britain since 1918, and the first RAF victory in the Second World War. It remained on defensive duties in Scotland until 27 August 1940, when it moved on rotation to Southern England, based with No 11 Group at RAF Hornchurch, where it was operational from 27 August 1940 for the remaining months of the Battle of Britain.
X4415 only saw nine days of operations during the battle as she suffered a category 'C' accident on landing on the 23rd September. If this was due to enemy fire, it is not recorded! With the battle in mid flow, repair of aircraft on the base was very rare. She was taken for repairs at Scottish Aviation and on the 9th May 1941 she was finally repaired and went to 53OTU.
On the 12th September X4415 was returning from a training mission and with it's undercarriage and flaps lowered, was on approach.
Unfortunately the trainee pilot came in too low and undershot the approach and the chimney of a house, tearing off the undercarriage, X4415 then slammed flat into a field just beyond the house. This time she suffered FAAC again. She was SOC 10th 1941 and became a source for spares then finally scrapped.
Crew:
Sgt G. Lerche. Safe.
Wreckage:
Removed.
Sources:
www.rafcommands.com
www.airhistory.org.uk
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Sep-2021 11:03 | Davies 62 | Added |
| 06-Aug-2022 17:01 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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