Spitfire X4709 at Hutton Cranswick airfield.
At 13.20hrs on 24th February 1942 this 133 Squadron aircraft was landing at Hutton Cranswick airfield and was the pilot's first landing at Hutton Cranswick. He touched down on a runway but on a different angle to the direction the runway was heading. The aircraft ran off the runway and first struck a bank of ploughed snow that was two feet high, it continued until it struck another bank of snow that was along side one of the other runways near an intersection but this caused the port undercarriage leg to break. The aircraft spun around and damaged the propeller. The pilot was slightly injured.
Pilot - P/O Gilbert Inland Omens RAFVR (108642), Injured.
Gilbert Omens was from Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was killed on 26th July 1942 when Magister N3929 crashed in Surrey. He is buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey.
The long service history Spitfire X4709 reads as follows... It was built as a MkI to contract B19713/39 by Vickers Armstrong's (Supermarine) Ltd. at Eastleigh and was first test flown on 5th November 1940. Two days later it was flown to 12 MU at Kirkbride preparation for operational flight and then placed into storage. On 3rd January 1941 it was taken on charge by 602 Squadron at Prestwick who moved to Ayr on 15th April 1941. It was selected for conversion to Mk.Va status and on 25th May 1941 it was flown to 63 MU at Carluke and four days later it was flown to Scottish Aviation Ltd at Prestwick for conversion work. On 4th July 1941 on completion of conversion to Mk.Va it was flown to 45 MU at Kinloss. On 18th July 1941 it was taken on charge by 131 Squadron at Catterick, on 6th August 1941 it moved with this unit to Ternhill and on 21st August 1941 it sustained damage as a result of ops. On this date a large number of fighter sweeps were carried out across the Channel and it was probably involved in combat during this. It was initially assessed and declared as Cat.E damaged but on arrival at A.S.T. Ltd. at Hamble it was re -assessed and re.Cat.B and then repaired in works. On 10th October 1941 on completion of the repair it was flown to 5 MU at Kemble. On 17th November 1941 it was taken on charge by 130 Squadron at Harrowbeer, they moved on 30th November 1941 to Warmwell and on 5th December 1941 to Perranporth. On 25th December 1941 it was transferred to 134 Squadron at Catterick, then three days later it was transferred to 133 Squadron at Eglinton, then on 31st December 1941 it was transferred to 134 Squadron at Catterick and then on 2nd January 1942 it was transferred to 133 Squadron at Kirton in Lindsey. It seems no-one wanted it. On 24th February 1942 as a result the crash at Hutton Cranswick (detailed above) Cat.A(c)/FA damage was the assessment.
A repair on site was begun on 28th February 1942 by a team from Vickers and on 14th March 1942 on completion of repair it was returned to 133 Squadron at Kirton in Lindsey who then moved to Biggin Hill on 3rd May 1942. On 20th May 1942 it was flown to 12 MU at Kirkbride. On 25th June 1942 it was taken on charge by 164 Squadron at Skeabrae, on 10th September 1942 it was transferred to 602 Squadron also at Skeabrae. On 22nd October 1942 it was struck while parked at Sumburgh by D.H.Rapide G-AGDM and sustained Cat.A/FA damage, it was repaired on site but on 8th NOvember 1942 it was transferred to 82nd Fighter Group, 95th Fighter Squadron, USAAF based at Eglinton for training and local area familiarization (82 F.G. was actually a P-38 Lockheed Lightning unit). On 26th November 1942 it was damaged again when it undershot on landing at Eglinton and the undercarriage collapsed, again suffering Cat.A/FA damage. In December 1942 a repair was commenced by 226 MU at Mallusk and on completion for repair it was placed in storage at Mallusk. On 15th July 1943 it wasallocated once again the the 85th F.G. but the unit were now in North Africa so it is very unlikely that it was ever used by them. By the end of June 1944 it was considered to be in need of a major repair so was flown to Scottish Aviation Ltd. at Prestwick where work commenced on 7th July 1944. The repair was finished by 19th August 1944, nine days later it was flown to 33 MU at Lyneham for storage and where it remained until being struck off charge on 18th September 1945. I thank Graham Sharpe for this very long service history.