Date:	Wednesday 27 February 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	443 (Hornet) Sqn RCAF
Registration:	NH398
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Marcianise, Province of Caserta, Campania Region -   Italy
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Uetersen, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
NH398: Spitfire LF.IX, built by CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M66 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 24-4-44. To 443 (Hornet) Squadron, RCAF in June 1944. On 15-6-44 443 Squadron RCAF moved to France in the close-support and armed aerial reconnaissance role. It was now heavily involved in ground attack sorties and continued to move forward following the Allied advance through Belgium and into the Netherlands to maintain its close air support of the ground forces.

Spitfire NH398 claimed two victories in aerial combat on 17-7-44 against a pair of enemy Fw-190s, piloted by Flt/Lt (J/16571) William Wood Lindsay "Bill" Brown, RCAF.

Having returned to RAF Warmwell in December 1944 for an air-firing course, the squadron missed the Luftwaffe's New Year's attack on Allied airfields ("Operation Bodenplatte").

Spitfire NH398 was sent to AST (Airwork Service Training), then to 215MU RAF Locharbriggs, Dumfries 8-1-45 for packing and crating for shipment overseas. Shipped on the ss 'Tamele' on 13-1-45, arriving Casablanca, Morocco 25-1-45. Returned to 443 (Hornet) Squadron RCAF in the Middle East in February 1945.

Unlike its two fellow squadrons, it did not return to Britain, but stayed on the continent, following the Allied armies advance into Germany equipped with the Spitfire Mk. XVI. With the end of the war the squadron joined the British Air Forces of Occupation until disbanding at Uetersen on 15 March 1946.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 27-2-46 in a wheels-up landing at Marcianise, Province of Caserta, Campania Region, Italy. The pilot experienced problems with his radio, and was distracted from carrying out the correct cockpit drills. He forgot to lower the undercarriage and also failed (through incorrect cockpit drill procedures) to check that the undercarriage was fully "down and locked". Therefore, the Spitfire made a wheels-up landing, which was a significant embarrassment to the pilot.

Not repaired; Struck Off Charge 31-10-46 as Cat. E(FA)

Marcianise is a town and commune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy at approx. coordinates 41.033333 N, 14.3 E.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.83
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 443 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-8-1945 to 31-3-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1883/33: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8405120
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.96: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/pilots/159-william-brown
7. https://rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=NH398
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p079.html
9. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/NH398
10. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/86753-nh398
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/443_Maritime_Helicopter_Squadron#Formation_and_World_War_II
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcianise
.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jul-2023 20:52	Dr. John Smith	Added
12-Jul-2023 20:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated
13-Jul-2023 08:17	Nepa	Updated
17-Sep-2023 16:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated