Date:	Wednesday 1 May 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI
Owner/operator:	317 (Wileński) Sqn RAF
Registration:	TB893
MSN:	CBAF 10925
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Ahlhorn, Lower Saxony, BZG, West Germany -   Germany
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Ahlhorn, Lower Saxony, BZG, West Germany
Destination airport:	RAF Ahlhorn, Lower Saxony, BZG, West Germany
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
TB893: Spitfire LF. XVI, MSN CBAF 10925. Built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. To 29MU RAF High Ercall, Shropshire 25-2-45. To 322 (Netherlands) Squadron 5-4-45, at RAF Schijndel (ALG B.85). Moved with squadron to RAF Twente (ALG B.106) 18-4-45, then RAF Varrelbusch (ALG B.113) 30-4-45.

To 317 ("City of Wilno") (Polish) Fighter Squadron, RAF (Polish: 317 Dywizjon Myśliwski „Wileński") 24-5-45 at RAF Ahlhorn, Lower Saxony, BZG, West Germany as part of the BAFO (British Armed Forces of Occupation).

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 1-5-46 in a wheels-up landing at RAF Ahlhorn, Lower Saxony, BZG, West Germany. The pilot returned to base (RAF Ahlhorn) because he believed that the aircraft's fuel gauge was not reading correctly. While awaiting his turn to land, the engine failed due to fuel starvation. and the pilot made a 'wheels up', forced landing outside the airfield perimeter.

The subsequent Board of Inquiry discovered that the fuel gauge was indeed inaccurate, and was over-reading, showing that the aircraft had fuel on board when the tanks were in fact empty. However, it was never explained why the pilot of Spitfire TB893 was not allocated a priority landing slot.

Damaged assessed as Cat. C (Repairable) 1-5-46. Repairs abandoned, airframe re-cat E 2-5-46 and struck off charge.

RAF Ahlhorn, is a former Royal Air Force station located 1 mile (1.6 km) south east of the centre of Ahlhorn, Lower Saxony and 11 miles (18 km) north of Vechta, Lower Saxony, Germany

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.134
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 317 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-6-45 to 28-2-46: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1709/33: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8401302
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.100: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90631-tb893
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TB893
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._322_(Dutch)_Squadron_RAF
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._317_Polish_Fighter_Squadron#History
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Ahlhorn#Second_World_War_and_beyond

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Jun-2023 19:37	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Jun-2023 19:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated
29-Jun-2023 20:29	Nepa	Updated
16-Sep-2023 12:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated