Date:	Wednesday 16 July 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk VIII
Owner/operator:	AFS RIAF
Registration:	MT912
MSN:	KEA.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Gara Village, 3 miles south of RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana -   India
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India
Destination airport:	RIAF Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
MT912: Spitfire LF VIII, built at Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) at Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire with Merlin M66 engine. To 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 7-11-44. To 82MU RAF Lichfield, Fradley, Staffordshire 16-11-44. To 1 PATP for packing and crating for overseas shipment. Shipped on the ss 'Ingleton' and 'LS.2488' 1-1-45, arriving India 4-2-45. To 9 Squadron RIAF March 1945. To 10 Squadron RIAF. To 1SFTS, RIAF, then AFS (Advanced Flying School), RIAF

Written off (destroyed) 16-7-47 when dived into ground at Gara Village 3 miles South of Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Haryana, India 16-7-47. The pilot was undertaking his first ever solo flight on a Spitfire. At low level, shortly after take-off, while still in the initial climb out from RIAF Ambala, the pilot lost control of the aircraft, and it dived into the ground. Aircraft caught fire on impact, and was destroyed. The pilot was killed

Crew of Spitfire MT912:
Pilot Officer (IND/3327) Gurdev Singh Guran RIAF (Pilot, aged 27) - killed on active service 16-7-47, commemorated at the Delhi-Karachi 1939-1945 Memorial, New Delhi, Delhi Capital Territory, India

Aircraft destroyed, formally Struck Off Charge 28-8-47 as Cat. E(FA)

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.319
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985)
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p075.html
5. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=MT912
6. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/MT912
7. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Aircraft/MT912
8. https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3327
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2579640/gurdev-singh-guran/
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18446875/singh-guran-gurdev
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._9_Squadron_IAF
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._10_Squadron_IAF
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambala_Cantonment_Junction_railway_station
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambala_Air_Force_Station#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Aug-2023 21:23	Dr. John Smith	Added
31-Aug-2023 08:34	Nepa	Updated