Date:	Monday 5 September 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire FR Mk XVIIIe
Owner/operator:	28 Sqn RAF
Registration:	TP335
MSN:	6S 676367
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	South China Sea, off Paracel Islands -   Malaysia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	RAF Sembawang, Singapore
Destination airport:	RAF Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
TP335: Spitfire FR. XVIII, MSN 6S 676367. Built by Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Aldermaston with Griffon G65 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 18-9-45. To FEAF (Far East Air Force) and delivered to 390 MU RAF Seletar, Singapore 10-6-49. To 28 Squadron, RAF at RAF Sembawang, Singapore by 7-49

After the end of the Second World War, 28 Squadron continued as a fighter-reconnaissance unit as part of the Far East Air Force. In October 1945, the squadron replaced its Hurricanes with more Spitfires, (Mk VIIIs and Mk XIVe), concentrating on the Spitfire XIVe by the end of the year. It moved to Penang, Malaya in November 1945 and to RAF Kuala Lumpur in April 1946, and then to RAF Tengah, Singapore in February 1947. 28 squadron received Spitfire FR.18s in 1947. It moved to RAF Sembawang, also in Singapore in February 1949. It moved to RAF Kai Tak, Hong Kong in September 1949, still with Spitfires, in order to strengthen Hong Kong's defences as a result of the ongoing Chinese Civil War, with the squadron's role changing from fighter-reconnaissance to pure fighter. From then on, the squadron was regularly moved between Kai Tak and Sek Kong

Written off (presumed destroyed) 5-9-49 when went missing in cloud over South China Sea off the Paracel Islands. Aircraft was on a positioning/ferry flight from AF Sembawang, Singapore to RAF Kai Tak, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. The aircraft was one of a formation of four Spitfires flying at 8,000 feet in cloud that had been posted to RAF Kai Tak as part of 28 Squadron's redeployment. Spitfire TP335 was seen to enter cloud, but disappeared, and was never seen again. Although there were a number of theories as to the loss of this aircraft, all were pure conjecture, as none could be proved.

Pilot posted as "missing - presumed killed". Despite an extensive air and sea search from Hong Kong, no trace of the Spitfire was ever found

Crew of Spitfire TP335
S/Ldr (86638) John Bridge LEETHAM (Pilot) RAF - missing, presumed killed 5-9-49

Born in York, Yorkshire North Riding on 17-1-20 to Alfred Leetham and Katherine Beatrice Copperthwaite. John Bridge Leetham married Janet Welsh Spottiswood Alexander (died 4-2-2004). He passed away on 5-9-49 in Malaya. (The national probate calendar officially records his death as "Malaya", as he never arrived at Hong Kong).

The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands (simplified Chinese: 西沙群岛; traditional Chinese: 西沙群島; pinyin: xīshā qúndǎo; lit. 'West Sand Archipelago') and the Hoàng Sa Archipelago (Vietnamese: Quần đảo Hoàng Sa, lit. 'Yellow Sand Archipelago'), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea.

The archipelago includes about 130 small coral islands and reefs, most grouped into the northeastern Amphitrite Group or the western Crescent Group.

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.528
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985)
4. ORB 28 Sqn RAF: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p113.html
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/TP335
7. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/80360-tp335
8. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/awards/details.php?qname=LEETHAM&qnum=86638
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._28_Squadron_RAF#Post-War_(1946%E2%80%931967)
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Kai_Tak#History
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracel_Islands
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_Sea

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Aug-2023 20:44	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Aug-2023 20:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated
05-Aug-2023 08:17	Nepa	Updated
05-Aug-2023 20:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated