Spitfire AR426 at Breighton airfield.
Details regarding why this 41 Squadron aircraft was at Breighton were not fully known when I created this webpage and if anyone reading this could give me further information I would appreciate it. The AM Form 1180 gives no clues on why the aircraft was at Breighton. On 20th June 1942 the aircraft hit the ground at 13.45hrs during a low level aerobatics flight over Breighton airfield, the aircraft was destroyed and the pilot sadly killed. The aircraft was seen to climb to 1000 feet and circle the airfield, it then flew down over the aerodrome at between eighty to one hundred feet before pulling up and started a climbing roll. The aircraft then slipped badly in coming out of the roll, lost height and crashed. The pilot was possibly visiting the airfield to see other airmen based there. The nationalities of the pilot and also the resident bomber squadron were Australian.
An entry in the 460 Squadron ORB (who were the resident bomber unit at Breighton at the time) stated "a visiting Spitfire aircraft no.AR426 from Martlesham Heath and piloted by P/O J Allen crashed in a field ajoining the aerodrome, P/O Allen was killed immediately" and for that date "weather fair".
Pilot - F/O John James Allen RAAF (404842), aged 22, of Hughenden, North Queensland, Australia. Buried Holme of Spalding Moor Churchyard, Yorkshire.
John Allen was born on 21st August 1919 in Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia. He enlisted on 6th December 1940 in Brisbane and was emplyed as a jackeroo at the
time. He received a commission 1st September 1941 to the rank of P/O and was promoted to F/O on 1st March 1942. On arriving in the UK he trained at 58 OTU from 7th October 1941 and was then posted to 64 Squadron on 24th November 1941 (for a day) and then to 41 Squadron on 25th November 1941.
Spitfire AR426 was built to contract 124305/40 by the Westland Aircraft Co. Ltd. at Yeovil and was delivered to 38 MU at Llandow on 16th April 1942. On 13th June 1942 it was taken on charge by 41 Squadron at Martlesham Heath but as a result of this crash at Breighton on 20th June 1942 the damage assessment was deemed Cat.E2/FA and it was written off. It was struck off charge five days later when the paperwork caught up.
