Spitfire BL848 at Elvington airfield.
On 3rd February 1945 this 1689 Bomber (Defence) Flight aircraft touched down too far down the runway on landing at Elvington airfield during a fighter affiliation exercise, the aircraft could not be stopped on the remaining runway and it ran into soft ground off the end of the runway. The pilot applied the brakes and the aircraft overturned. On this date 1689 Flight undertook eight fighter affiliation exercises with crews of 347 Squadron.
Pilot - W/O John Noel Willoughby RAFVR (1144408). Slightly injured.
John Willoughby appears to have served as a staff pilot at various Bomber Command No.4 Group training units for the last half of the War. He was posted from 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit to 1484 Flight on 6th April 1943 where he served until 15th February 1944 when 1484 Flight disbanded. He was later posted to 1689 Flight who did a similar job in training Bomber Command aircrew. He was granted a commission in April 1945 and rose to F/O by the end of 1945.