Date:	Tuesday 29 January 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk XI
Owner/operator:	1401 Met Flt RAF
Registration:	PL913
MSN:	SUP.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Salzwedel, Altmark Kreis, Saxony-Anhalt, RZG (East Germany) -   Germany
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Destination airport:

Narrative:
PL913: Spitfire PR. XI, built by Supermarine Aircraft Ltd at Woolston with Merlin M70 engine. To 6MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 23-8-44. To RAF Benson, Oxfordshire 5-9-44. To 16 Squadron 14-9-44. Cat B accident 17-11-44. To HAL (Heston Aircraft Ltd) at Heston, Middlesex for repairs. To 1401 Meteorological Flight 16-1-46 after repairs completed. As per the file at the National Archives: "1401 Meteorological Flight; based at Bircham Newton and Manston (UK), then moved to Melsbroek, Eindhoven and B 118 Celle (Netherlands/Germany) February 1942 to June 1946"

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 29-1-46: Engine failed after 50 minutes; crash landed in field in Russian Sector at Salzwedel, then in East Germany. (RZG = Russian Zone of Germany). The pilot suffered an engine failure at 8,000 feet. He then glided the aircraft down to 5,000 feet in cloud under conditions of severe icing, with the engine throttled back. When the throttle was opened, the engine failed to pick up power, and the Spitfire was force landed at Salzwedel in an 'engine out' forced landing.

According to the following relevant excerpt from the pilot's obituary ("The Scotsman" 22 May 2011 - see link #9 for the full obituary)

"The final incident took place after VE day, when his engine iced up and he crash-landed in a field in the Soviet-occupied zone. Aircrew had been provided with a booklet of handy Russian phrases for such eventualities, including the vital "Don't shoot! I'm an Englishman". Even to save his life the proud Scot could not bring himself to utter the words, but the Russians appeared to understand his German well enough.

It was four days before he was returned to the British sector, after an exit interview in Berlin with the Soviet commander in Germany, General Kotikov."

Pilot: Flt/Lt Harold Wallace Clyne DFC, Service Number 122934, c/o 1401 Meteorological Flight, survived uninjured, briefly interred by Russian forces for four days until handed over to the western allies in Berlin (as detailed above). Harold Wallace Clyne DFC. Born: 11 February, 1915, in Edinburgh. Died: 19 May, 2011, in Sevenoaks, Kent, aged 96.

Salzwedel, officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (Kreis) of Altmark Kreis, Salzwedel. At the time of this incident, The US Army had turned over control of the city to the Soviet Red Army, shortly after VE Day (8-5-45) causing Salzwedel to become part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). This continued until 9-11-89 when the process of reunification of the two Germanys began.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.37. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.115
3. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999.
4. Flt/Lt Clyne's Flying Log Book
5. 1401 Meteorological Flight RAF ORB for the period 1-2-1942 to 30-6-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/866/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161883
6. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.95: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/PL913
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/91526-pl913
9. Pilots Obituary: The Scotsman 22 May 2011: https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-harold-clyne-dfc-wwii-spitfire-pilot-1676386
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzwedel#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Sep-2013 02:27	JINX	Added
27-Mar-2015 18:53	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Phase]
24-May-2015 20:08	Iwosh	Updated [Operator]
02-Jul-2023 18:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator]]
17-Jul-2023 18:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Operator]]]