Date:	Monday 31 January 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	595 Sqn RAF
Registration:	SM348
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
SM348: Spitfire LF XVI. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. Delivered to 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 6-11-44. To 229 Squadron, RAF Hornchurch, Essex 30-11-44 as 'HB-X'. To 416 ("City of Oshawa") Squadron RCAF 28-12-44. To 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron 18-1-45. (On 10-1-45, 603 Squadron reassembled at RAF Coltishall, and by curious coincidence, took over the Spitfires of No. 229 Squadron RAF and some of its personnel, the same squadron which had absorbed No. 603 at Ta' Qali, Malta in 1942).

Damaged (Cat. C) in February 1945: repaired on site. To 453 Squadron RAAF 22-3-45 as "FU-Y". To 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron 21-6-45 at RAF Chilbolton, Hampshire. To 587 Squadron RAF Weston Zoyland, Bridgwater, Somerset 5-7-45. To 691 Squadron, RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon 20-6-46. To 595 Squadron, RAF Pembrey. Carmarthen (on loan)

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when engine failed crashed force-landing near Carmarthen
Although operated by 595 Squadron, the aircraft was on charge with 691 Squadron. A vale in the carburettor regulator failed, and as a result, the engine stopped. The pilot therefore had to make an immediate forced landing near Carmarthen. This was successfully achieved, despite the hilly nature of the area that the Spitfire force landed. As far as is known, the pilot was uninjured.

Aircraft not repaired; declared FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) and Struck Off Charge 31-1-49

No. 595 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1943 to 1949. The squadron was formed at RAF Aberporth, Wales on 1 December 1943, from nos. 1607, 1608, 1609 and 1621 Flight for anti-aircraft co-operation duties over central and northern Wales. It operated a variety of aircraft in this role. Due to the ongoing training requirement the squadron was not disbanded at the end of the war and on 27 April 1946 it moved to RAF Fairwood Common, then on 22 October 1946 to RAF Pembrey. The squadron was disbanded at Pembrey on 11 February 1949 when it was renumbered to No. 5 Squadron RAF.

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.474
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 595 Squadron RAF ORB 1-4-1947 to 31-1-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2056/7: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8415210
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p100.html
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/SM348
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._595_Squadron_RAF
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmarthen

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Apr-2023 20:35	Dr. John Smith	Added