Date:	Friday 31 January 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire FR Mk XIV
Owner/operator:	2 Sqn RAF
Registration:	NH896
MSN:	WIN.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Celle, Lower Saxony
Destination airport:	RAF Celle, Lower Saxony
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
NH896: Spitfire FR XIV, built by Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) at Hursley Park, Winchester, Hampshire with Griffon G65 engine. To 29MU RAF High Ercoll, Shropshire 21-3-45. To 414 Squadron RCAF 12-4-45. After the war ended on 8-5-45, 414 squadron disbanded at Lüneburg Airfield (Advanced Landing Ground B156), in Germany on 7-8-45. To 2 Squadron RAF at RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany 9-8-45 (two days later)

Written off (destroyed) 31-1-47 in a mid-air collision with Spitfire TZ196 (also of 2 Squadron) over RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany. Both pilots of both Spitfires (NH896 and TZ196) disobeyed orders by flying in a tight 'paired' formation at low level over the airfield at RAF Celle. During the formation flight, Spitfire NH896 was the lead aircraft and was destroyed in a collision with Spitfire TZ196 which hit the lead Spitfire from behind, severing its tail. Both aircraft went out of control and dived into the ground within the airfield boundary of RAF Celle. The pilots of both aircraft were killed

Crew of Spitfire NH896
Flt/Lt (150080) Leslie Frederick Butcher (pilot) RAFVR- Killed on active service 31-1-47;
buried at Hannover War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Seelze Region, Hannover, 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.269
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 2 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1942 to 31-3-1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2876: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505513
5. "RAF Write offs 1947": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.2 1978: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1978.pdf
6. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/80062-nh896
7. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=6487
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/NH896
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2198317/leslie-frederick-butcher/
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18583999/leslie-frederick-butcher
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._2_Squadron_RAF#Cold_War_(1945%E2%80%931988)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Sep-2023 00:58	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-Sep-2023 01:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated
07-Sep-2023 08:13	Nepa	Updated