On Sunday the 13th of February 1949 a Spitfire crashed north of Commondale. The pilot was
carrying out unauthorized low flying and aerobatics at the time. The wing tip hit the ground
during a roll and it dived into the ground killing him. There was no explosion.
The pilot had taken off from Thornaby at 14.41 hrs and was on his first solo flight. One can only imagine P/O Jeffery's
possible excitment in being able to fly one of the Worlds most famous aircraft of its day. He had no doubt grown up with the
knowledge of their reputation and I can only guess that the moment of finally being able to fly one solo went to his head,
with tragic results.
Spitfire PK617 was built to contract B981687/39 by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd at Castle Bromwich and delivered to 39 MU at Colerne on 27th January
1945 where it remained in storage for two years. It moved to Vickers Armstrongs factory at South Marston for modifications on 20th
January 1947 and was issued to 608 Squadron at Thornaby on 9th July 1948. It sustained Cat E2/FA damage in the incident detailed above and was written
off as a result.
Pilot - P/O Kenneth R Jeffrey R(Aux)AF (2686064), aged 24, of Linthorpe, Middlesborough. Cremated Darlington.
I refer to the Middlesborough Gazette from the day after the crash in compiling this page.
I first visited the area of the crash in March 2003, the majority of remaining wreckage
lay in a pit. Close to this pit I found a sizeable peice of the cockpit canopy hidden in the heather. It was photographed and put back. I
have since visited the site a number of times, the last being in January 2007.
Me with half of the cockpit canopy.
A complete part number found on a small peice of wreckage at the crash site, part of an engine cowling.
P/O (or P2, sources vary, the RAF made a brief change to the ranking system which was not popular and died a death soon after) Kenneth Jeffery was born on 6th October 1924 in Easington, Co. Durham. He appears to had served with the
RAF during the War, enlisting in 1943. On 19th November 1946 he had a lucky escape in his training with 9 ANS
when Anson MG902 which he was in made a forced landing in the Shannan River, Limerick. He was to join 608 Squadron in 1947;
his loss was to be the first mishap
the unit had suffered in the Post War period.
