Date:	Monday 20 October 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	595 Sqn RAF
Registration:	MH504
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire
Destination airport:	RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire

Narrative:
MH504: Spitfire LF IX. Built at CBAF with Merlin M66 engine. To 39MU RAF Llandow, Glamorgan 21-8-43. To 405 ARF 18-9-43. To 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, RAF Abbotsinch coded 'LO-M' 26-9-43. To 453 Squadron, RAAF, 7-1-44. Cat B accident 21-2-44. To 442 (Canadian) Squadron 24-8-44. To 401 (City of Westmount) Squadron RCAF 31-8-44, operating from 'B-80' airfield in Volkel and then 'B-88', near Heesch, in the Netherlands. To 511 FRU 12-10-44. To 130 Squadron, RAF 17-5-45. To 595 Squadron, RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire 16-5-46

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 20-10-47 when the engine cut, and aircraft ground-looped to avoid overshoot causing the undercarriage to collapse RAF Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Due to the failure of the cam vertical drive shaft, the engine stopped. The pilot then immediately returned to base for an 'engine out' emergency landing.

The pilot approached RAF Pembrey downwind and into the sun. However, to avoid overshooting the runway on landing, the pilot swung the Spitfire off the runway, causing the port undercarriage to collapse. The Station Commander of RAF Pembrey commentated that the pilot made a commendable attempt to recover the aircraft safely

Crew of Spitfire MH504
Pilot II (1628317) Thomas Lionel Ratcliffe, RAF (Pilot, then aged 22) - survived with minor injuries.

Damage initially assessed as Cat. C (Repairable) 20-10-47. However, not repaired, re-cat E, and struck off charge as scrap 27-11-47

The pilot was killed in an accident almost twenty years later whilst flying in Hunter FR Mk 10, WW595 of No 4 Sqn, which crashed into a saddle (between two hills) at Furstenberg, West Germany on 23-1-67 (see separate entry)

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.343
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (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. "RAF Write offs 1947": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.2 1978: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1978.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p063.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MH504
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/84888-mh504
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._602_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._453_Squadron_RAAF#Europe
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442_Transport_and_Rescue_Squadron#History
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/401_Tactical_Fighter_Squadron#D-day_and_European_Offensive_1944
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._130_Squadron_RAF#History
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._595_Squadron_RAF
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembrey_Airport#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-May-2023 21:04	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-May-2023 21:46	Nepa	Updated
28-Aug-2023 05:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated