ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 170611
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 January 1943 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 52 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | P8208 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | River Severn, near the Severn Bridge -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Aston Down, Gloucestershire |
| RAF Aston Down |
Spitfire P8208 collided with P8207 during an air gunnery practice flight.
P8208 crashed in the River Severn and its pilot lost his life.
P8207 was repaired and served on until it was SOC on 25/1/45.
P8208 was salvaged at some point and is reported to be in storage in the UK. It has been allotted the civil registration
G-RRFF.
Pilot:
Sgt (R/131567) Eldon Howard CALDWELL RCAF - killed.
R.I.P.
Details:
P8208 was made at the Castle Bromwich plant and allocated to the RAF arriving at 12 MU, based at RAF Kirkbridge on the 26th of March 1941. She was ferried to No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron on the 12th of May 1941. Her first flight with 303, took place on the 15th as part of ‘B’ flight in the hands of P/O Paderewski on a training sortie. Her first operational flight happened on the 21st of May, still under the control of Paderewski, this time as part of ‘A’ flight and their tasking was bomber escort. The squadrons job on this ‘Circus’ was to patrol the enemy light aerodromes in the area to protect the main force. However, the only enemy aircraft seen was four Bf-109F’s on the return, the squadron went to intercept but broke away mid-way over the Channel. P8208 was involved in a number of Circus flights and with some contact with the enemy, but nothing claimed in her credit.
P8208 was then ferried out when the squadron took delivery of the mark fives and went to No.1 CACF (Coast Artillery Co-Operation Unit) who were at Gosport at the time. Her stay here did not last long, she suffered an FAAC on the 2nd of January 1942, (Flying Accident where the repair is beyond the capability of repair on station) however, she was able to be repaired and came to No.1 CRU (Civilian Repair Unit).
Her next posting was to No.52 OTU who were based at RAF Aston Down, arriving here on the 9th of October 1942. Her stay here was to be another very short one. On the 26th of January 1943 she was flying alongside her sister, P8207 during formation and gunnery practice over the Bedwin Sands air gunnery range, located in the upper area of the Severn Estuary (North of the new bridge), when they collided! P8208 plunged into the water, P8207 was force landed near Magor without any further damage, infact she was recovered, repaired and continued to serve until being SOC on the 25th of January 1945. The pilot of P8208 was never seen again and is listed as missing. P8208 was ‘Struck Off Charge’ on the 3rd of February 1943.
Crew:
Sgt Eldon Howard Caldwell 22yo R/131567 RCAF. Pilot. Killed.
Son of J. H. and Mary R. Caldwell of Cardston, Alberta, Canada.
Burial:
Runnymede Memorial. Panel 186.
Wreckage:
For decades the wrecked Spitfire could be seen at very low Spring Tides and even approached being only 500 yards out into the estuary. Also, it is usual for such crashed aircraft, any recovery is not permitted by the MOD if there is a chance of human remains being within the crash site. This one is unusual, as the pilot being still listed as missing but not with the wreck! During 1993 Dilip Sarkar along with the Malvern Spitfire Group applied, and got permission to recover the Spitfire, with one condition, the MOD insisted that the ‘Aircraft Recovery Team’ from RAF St Athan was to be in attendance during the recovery and the group was to co-operate with the team in investigating the wreck prior and during the recovery.
On the spring tide of the 9th of March 1993, large amounts of wreckage was airlifted by private helicopter to dry land then taken away to be preserved. Later the remains was purchased by one Mr Jon Radford, with the eventual goal of an airworthy re-build. The Air Registry Board have already allocated the civilian serial G-RRFF in September 2009.
Additional Information:
Dilip Sarkar.
Author of over fifty well-received books during a lifetime of dedication, inspired by the Spitfire and Battle of Britain stories since childhood, Dilip now writes for Pen & Sword, and is a firm supporter of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust. Most importantly, in 2022, he initiated ‘Battle of Britain: The People’s Project’ as a partnership between the Trust and Pen & Sword and is currently writing the Trust’s official history of the Battle of Britain in seven volumes.
Sources:
Spitfire production list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Supermarine_Spitfires
cwgc
www.dilipsarkarmbe.com
www.rafcommands.com
www.nationalarchives,gov,uk
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2014 07:23 | angels one five | Added |
| 24-Oct-2014 07:30 | angels one five | Updated [Total fatalities] |
| 18-Jun-2015 07:58 | Angel dick one | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-Aug-2018 06:11 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 04-Feb-2021 23:36 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Narrative] |
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