ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 155216
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| Date: | Thursday 23 July 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa |
| Owner/operator: | 52 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | P7509 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | River Severn, near Chepstow -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Aston Down |
| Return. |
Crashed into the Severn and written off.
Pilot:
Sgt 1080606 Donald Machin RAFVR - killed.
R.I.P.
Details:
Built at Castle Bromwich and delivered to the RAF at 9 MU on the 12th of October 1940. Her first squadron was No.603 at RAF Hornchurch. No. 603 Squadron was formed on 14 October 1925 at RAF Turn house as a day bomber unit of the Auxiliary Air Force. After getting rid of their Gladiators and Hinds, the squadron was operational with Spitfires in time to intercept the first German air raid on the British Isles on the 16th of October, when it shot down a Junkers Ju-88 bomber into the Firth of Forth the first enemy aircraft to be shot down over Great Britain since 1918, and the first RAF victory in the Second World War. It remained on defensive duties in Scotland until 27 August 1940, when it moved on rotation to Southern England, based with No 11 Group where it was operational from 27 August 1940 for the remaining months of the Battle of Britain. P7509 however, came into the fray in the dying months on the 29th of October.
Her first operational patrol occurred on the 5th of November and flown by one of the veteran pilots, Sgt P.H.R.R.A. Terry. The flight took off at 14:45 hours on an Operational Patrol over Maidstone line. They then did a sweep over Kent and encountered a number of the new Messerschmitt Bf-109F’s, only P/O Winskill managed to get some rounds off but with no result, however Sgt Terry received hits to his aircraft and himself. He was able to bring h P7509 back where she was inspected and categorised as ‘B’ which saw her to go off the base for repairs, Sgt Terry was taken to hospital.
P7509 returned from repair, arriving at No.19 squadron on the 17th of January 1941. First operational patrol happened on the 5th of February. Most of her time here she was used as a reserve aircraft until July when she was involved with two ‘Fighter Wing sweeps’ of occupied France before being sent on to No. 234 squadron on the 21st of August. Much of the same followed until she came to her final operational squadron. On the 18th of December she came to 350 squadron who were at RAF Valley.
350 squadron hold a particular part in RAF history in that they became the first Royal Air Force squadron to be formed by Belgian personnel. Formed at RAF Valley, on the Isle of Anglesey in November 1941. The squadron operated the Spitfire which included P7509 on convoy protection duties over the Irish sea, relocating to RAF Atcham in early 1942. In April 1942 the squadron moved to RAF Debden and carried out offensive operations over France.
Finally, she came to 52 OTU at RAF Aston Down on the 24th of March 1942. Then four months later she was on an air to ground gunnery training flight in the hands of pilot U/T, Sgt Machin. The ranges used by the training units within Gloucestershire was the Sheperdine sands in the middle of the upper Severn Estuary known as Aust. Eyewitnesses on the ground saw the Spitfire above the ranges conducting air to ground firing, on one steep climb out it was observed to stall and go into a spin and plunging into the mud and sand with a loud ‘splat’ killing the pilot.
Crew:
Sgt Donald Machin 22yo 1080606 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed.
Buried:
Widnes Cemetery. Section 5U. Grave 1886.
Wreckage:
Unknown!
Additional Information:
Sgt Patrick Hugh Richard Runciman Terry was born in March 1915, the son of the composer Sir Richard Runciman Terry. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in January 1936. After completing his flying training Terry joined 19 Squadron at Duxford on 25th October 1936. He was posted to the SHQ staff at Halton on 16th September 1937 and on 2nd February 1939 he went to 111 Squadron at Northolt. He resigned his commission on 12th September 1939, cause unknown, and re-joined the RAF as a Sergeant-Pilot in 1940. With further training completed he joined 72 Squadron at on 3rd October. He moved to 603 Squadron at Hornchurch later in the month.
After his combat with the 109’s over Canterbury on the 5th of November, he was admitted to Charlton Hospital, Canterbury. It appears he saw out the war flying a desk due to his injuries which prevented him from flying again. His subsequent service is currently undocumented, but he married Anne O’Kelly on the 13th of November 1943. Terry died on 4th January 1975.
The Friedrich had new wings, cooling system and fuselage aerodynamics. Considered by many as the high-water mark of Bf 109 development, the F series abandoned the wing cannon and concentrated all armament in the forward fuselage with a pair of synchronized machine guns above and a single 15 or 20 mm Motorkanone-mount cannon behind the engine, the latter firing between the cylinder banks and through the propeller hub, itself covered by a more streamlined, half-elliptical shaped spinner that better matched the streamlining of the reshaped cowling, abandoning the smaller, conical spinner of the Emil subtype. The F-type also omitted the earlier stabilizer lift strut on either side of the tail. The improved aerodynamics were used by all later variants. Some Bf 109Fs were used late in the Battle of Britain in 1940 but the variant came into common use only in the first half of 1941.
Sources:
Spitfire production list.
RAF Casualties-1942.
CWGC
www.rafcommands.com
nationalarchives.gov
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Apr-2013 06:15 | angels one five | Added |
| 16-Apr-2013 06:21 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 16-Apr-2013 06:26 | angels one five | Updated [Source] |
| 18-Jun-2015 07:38 | Angel dick one | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Feb-2018 16:59 | Red Dragon | Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Feb-2018 17:20 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 31-Jan-2021 07:28 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 29-Jun-2022 14:16 | Davies 62 | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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