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| Date: | Thursday 16 January 1941 |
| Time: | 10:48 |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 234 (Madras Presidency) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N3191 |
| MSN: | 432 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Ruan Lanihorne, near Truro, Cornwall, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF St Eval, Cornwall |
| RAF St Eval |
At 1048 hrs on 16 January 1941 the Supermarine Spitfire Ia N3191 AZ- of 234 Squadron RAF, St Eval, lost its wings in a dive and crashed in a field near the Rectory at Ruan Lanihorne, near Truro, Cornwall. The pilot, Plt Off William Lionel Beech, was killed.
Spitfire N3191 was built to contract 527113/36 by Vickers Armstrong’s (Supermarine) Ltd at Woolston and first test flown on 23 November 1939. It was delivered to 24 MU at Ternhill on 2 December 1939 and issued to 234 Squadron at Leconfield on 22 March 1940. It sustained Cat.M/GA in an incident on 27 March 1940 on Lenconfield airfield and was repaired on site and returned to the unit. It then moved with the unit to Church Fenton on 22 May 1940 and again with the unit to St Eval 12 June 1940, and again to Middle Wallop on 19 August 1940 and back to St Eval on 11 September 1940. It was destroyed on 16 January 1941 (with Cat.W/FA damage). The wreckage was taken to AST Ltd at Hamble on 14 February 1941 for inspection to determine the cause of the accident. It was Struck off Charge on 23 April 1941.
Sources:
http://www.rafdavidstowmoor.com/pages/crash_log/crashlog41.html
"RAF Fighter Command Combat & Casualties" file, by Tony Wood (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york40/n3191.html
https://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2948843
https://www.findagrave.com/page=gr&GRid=55811521
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruan_Lanihorne
http://www.maplandia.com/united-kingdom/england/south-west/cornwall-county/ruan-lanihorne/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Dec-2011 02:09 | angels one five | Added |
| 30-Dec-2011 05:59 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, ] |
| 09-Jan-2012 01:56 | angels one five | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, ] |
| 09-Jan-2012 06:13 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, ] |
| 13-Jan-2012 01:38 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, ] |
| 15-Jan-2012 13:16 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, ] |
| 15-Jan-2012 13:35 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, ] |
| 15-Jan-2012 13:35 | Nepa | Updated |
| 23-Jan-2012 00:48 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative, ] |
| 09-Nov-2012 08:55 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, ] |
| 02-May-2013 00:57 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Narrative, ] |
| 29-May-2013 13:47 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, ] |
| 10-Jun-2013 20:30 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, ] |
| 12-Aug-2013 04:22 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ] |
| 13-Aug-2013 00:55 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ] |
| 14-Aug-2013 07:53 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Aug-2013 20:47 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ] |
| 19-Sep-2013 00:23 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Source, ] |
| 01-Oct-2013 18:00 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ] |
| 22-Oct-2013 08:19 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ] |
| 31-Oct-2014 17:02 | DG333 | Updated [Time, Operator, ] |
| 06-Nov-2014 08:57 | angels one five | Updated [Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 02-Jun-2015 13:16 | Fuxs | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 16-Jan-2017 09:02 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Oct-2019 21:31 | angels one five | Updated [Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Oct-2019 21:38 | angels one five | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 06-Jan-2021 21:35 | angels one five | Updated [Phase, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Feb-2021 05:41 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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