ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 305789
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 January 1943 |
| Time: | 11:30 |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire MkIIb |
| Owner/operator: | 53 OTU |
| Registration: | R6924 |
| MSN: | 893 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Fairwood Common, Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Llandow, Vale of Glamorgan |
| RAF Fairwood Common, Glamorgan |
Details:
This Spitfire was csn (construction number) 893 and first flew on the 15th of July 1940. It was allocated to the RAF and arrived at 6 MU at RAF Brize Norton on the 16th of July 1940, here she was fitted with two cannon and took the prefix as a MkIIb. Three days later, on the 17th she came to 19 squadron but only stayed with the squadron for under two months, which was unusual because this was at the height of the Battle of Britain, she went to No.7 OTU at RAF Quedgeley on the 3rd of September. She was not used for training but received an engine upgrade, from her fitted Merlin III she received a Rolls Royce Merlin XVII on the 8th of September. The next posting was to AFDU (Air Fighting Development Unit) at RAF Northolt arriving on the 28th of November.
The following year, R6924 came to No.92 squadron on the 22nd of January 1941. Once again, her stay was to be short. When in the morning of the 7th of February two Spitfires took off from Manston on a weather test. Visibility was extremely bad and at 11:45 hrs a message was received from Hawkinge that one of the Spitfires had crashed into a hill near Deal. Watling, who was twenty years of age, was killed instantly when his aircraft R6924, slammed onto the rising ground hard. He had sustained a broken neck and severe head injuries after his harness had broken, allowing him to shoot forward into the gunsight and snapping backwards violently. He had been with 92 Sqn since July 1940 and had been shot down and badly burned during combat on the 9th of September, returning to 92 at the end of October 1940.
The squadron records read…
“Morning visibility was very bad at 11:45 hrs we had a telephone message from Hawkinge that a Spitfire had crashed into a hill near Deal in thick mist. Turns out to be P/O Watling. It is very much regretted that P/O Watling lost his life in this crash. He had joined us at RAF Pembrey in July 1940 and was a very good pilot. His death is a very severe loss for us all!”
R6924 was initially a Cat’ E right off and SoC (Struck off Charge) on the 18th of February 1941.
Now another unusual aspect of this story was the Cat’ E was reviewed and cancelled, R6924 was sent off for repair and back on active flying duties, this time with No. 504 squadron, arriving on the 5th of November 1941. She arrived just as the squadron was changing over to the mark V. Yet again she was off to another posting, this time over to training after being withdrawn from frontline service, She arrived at No.58 OTU on the 8th of March 1942, until finally coming to 53 OTU on the 23rd of September. Here followed a lengthy period of routine training until, on the 26th of January she was being flown on a night navigation exercise under the control of Sgt Holme when the weather again turned for the worse, leaving Holme little choice but to find an airfield quickly as his fuel was diminishing. He gained a radio fix from the beacon at RAF Fairwood Common and was able to land, but because of the undulating runways, which is a peculiar feature to Fairwood, this caused him to start to overshoot. But the Spitfire began to swing off the runway and hit a stationary steamroller at the end of the runway. This time the damage was total, and the pilot received severe injuries. As for R6924, her luck had now run out. She was SoC and scrapped at the foundry at Bynea.
Crew:
P/O William Charles Watling 20yo 44186 RAF. Pilot. Killed. 1
Son of William Charles and Annie Watling of St Jacques, Guernsey.
Sgt J Holme RAFVR. Pilot. Survived with serious injuries.
Burial:
1 St Mary Cray Cemetery. Plot E. Div 3. Grave 122.
Wreckage:
All removed.
Sources:
www.rafcommands.com
www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire
www.cwgc.gov.uk
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jul-2023 21:36 | Nepa | Updated |
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