Date:	Monday 20 January 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	208 Sqn RAF
Registration:	NH239
MSN:	CBAF IX.2201
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Mount Carmel, South of Haifa, Palestine -   Israel
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Em Shemer, Shomon Region, Palestine (Israel)
Destination airport:	Em Shemer, Shomon Region, Palestine (Israel)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
NH239: Spitfire LF IX, MSN CBAF IX.2201. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M66 engine. To 39MU RAF Colerene, Chippenham, Wiltshire 10-5-44. To 82MU RAF Lichfield, Fradley, Staffordshire 22-5-44. Returned to 39MU RAF Colerene 6-7-44. To 165 Squadron, RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent coded 'SK-S' 1-9-44. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 17-2-45. To Mediterranean Allied Air Force 30-5-45.

To 208 Squadron RAF, which was based at Em Shemer, Shomon Region, 6km east of Hadera, Palestine between 6-6-46 and 26-3-48 with the Supermarine Spitfire.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 20-1-47 when flew into high ground on low level training exercise near Mount Carmel, south of Haifa, Palestine. The pilot flew Spitfire NH239 at very low level outside the authorised low-flying zone. Thus, he flew into rising ground at high speed in a CFIT (Controlled Flight into Terrain)

The Subsequent Board of Inquiry concluded that the pilot of Spitfire NH239 either flew into the rising ground in cloud (and therefore did not see the obstruction ahead until it was too late) or that he was forced to fly lower than was advisable, due to the prevailing turbulent weather conditions. (Trying to fly 'under the weather')

Crew of Spitfire NH239
F/O (201729) Shelley Walter George Potter (pilot) RAFVR - killed on active service 20-1-47; buried at Khayat Beach War Cemetery, Haifa, Israel

Mount Carmel (Hebrew: הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, romanized: Har haKarmel; Arabic: جبل الكرمل, romanized: Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (Arabic: جبل مار إلياس, romanized: Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit. 'Mount Saint Elias/Elijah'), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the south east. A number of towns are situated there, most notably the city of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, located on the northern and western slopes.

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.264
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. ORB 208 Sqn RAF for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2465: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505103
5. "RAF Write offs 1947": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.2 1978: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1978.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p078.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/NH239
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/86643-nh239
9. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=NH239
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1155787/shelley-walter-george-potter/
11. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=36510
12. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25266709/shelley-walter-potter
13. Oral History of 208 Sqn in 1948-49: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80032975
14. 208 Squadron Association Newsletter: http://www.naval8-208-association.com/History1945-50Page09.html
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._165_Squadron_RAF
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._208_Squadron_RAF#After_World_War_II
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ein_Shemer_Airfield#RAF_Ein_Shemer
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Carmel

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Sep-2023 20:38	Nepa	Updated
13-Sep-2023 10:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated