Date:	Thursday 19 August 1948
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	691 Sqn RAF
Registration:	TD134
MSN:	CBAF IX.4217
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Cleave, Morwenstow, near Bude, Cornwall, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon
Destination airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon

Narrative:
Spitfire TD134: MSN CBAF.IX.4217. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 23-3-45. To 84GSU, then 15 FPP (Ferry Pilots Pool). Cockpit hood flew off and damaged fin and rudder at RAF Dunsfold, Surrey. Declared a Cat. C accident 31-5-45. Repaired on site T/O Miss S.M. Guthrie safe. To Maclaren's at HAL (Heston Aircraft Ltd) 23-3-46. To 65 Squadron, RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire, coded 'YT-W' 22-5-46. To 164 Squadron coded 'FJ-P' 26-7-46. Squadron renumbered 63 Squadron 31-8-46; recoded 'UB-P'. To 91 Squadron, RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire coded 'DL-R'. 91 Squadron was renumbered 92 Squadron in 1-47. To 691 Squadron, RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon 1-47 coded '5S-D'

Written off (destroyed) 19-8-48 when hit ground during practice attack at RAF Cleave, Morwenstow, near Bude, Cornwall. The Spitfire was making a practice low level mock attack against a gun emplacement, but the pilot failed to climb away from the diving attack soon enough, and the aircraft flew into the ground close to the target. Despite this, the pilot was able to retain limited control of his aircraft; he then climbed to an altitude of 700 feet, and then bailed out successfully.

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.419
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 691 Squadron RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 28-2-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2545: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505183
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/p110.html
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90991-td134
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TD134
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=TD134
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._65_Squadron_RAF#Post_war
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._164_Squadron_RAF#Background
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._63_Squadron_RAF#Post-war:_enter_the_jets
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._91_Squadron_RAF#Post-war
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._691_Squadron_RAF
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Chivenor#1946%E2%80%941949
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Cleave

The remains of a Second World War gun emplacement which was part of RAF Cleave, Morwenstow, Cornwall. on 27-12-2013. Background: Modern satellite dishes of GCHQ Bude. This gun emplacement was probably the target for Spitfire TD134 referred to above

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Apr-2023 19:09	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Aug-2023 01:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated