Spitfire K9896 at Catterick airfield.
At 21.50hrs on 6th June 1940 the pilot of this 152 Squadron aircraft was attempting to land at Catterick airfield in poor light when it undershot and struck a bank of earth on the airfield boundary that surrounded a dispersal point. The impact caused the aircraft to flip up, initially striking the ground again with it's nose and then turning over to crash on it's back just within the airfield. The pilot was rescued from the damaged aircraft but died of his injuries the following day in Catterick Military Hospital.
Pilot - P/O Bewsher Eric Bell RAF (41653), aged 20, of Gisborne, Auckland, New Zealand. Died 7th June 1940. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
The gravestone of P/O Bell at Catterick Cemetery. He was granted a short service commission on 4th March 1939 to the rank of Acting P/O on probation and
was later graded as P/O on probation on 23rd September 1939.
Spitfire K9896 was built to contract 527113/36 by Vickers Armstrong's (Supermarine) Ltd. at Woolston and was first test flown on 10th March 1939. It was issued to 54 Squadron at Hornchurch on 15th March 1940 when the unit began converting from Gladiators to Spitfire MkI's. It transferred to 152 Squadron at Acklington on 3rd January 1940
when this unit began converting from Gladiators to Spitfire MkI's. Cat.W/FA damage was recorded following the incident at Catterick as detailed above. After assessment it was declared beyond economic repair and stuck off charge on 16th June 1940.