Spitfire LF. XVI TB308 - lost twice

[Chris Brame]

Had my eye on a Spitfire photo on eBay; looked up the serial and was sad to find it was scrapped at RAF Bicester around 1961:

Bought the photo in early June; it was mailed the 29th but never showed up (it was only going about 150 miles at the most). I was able to save the above image from the listing at least.

So - the original TB308 was lost to history and the photo of TB308 was lost in the mail Anyone recognize the location?

[quemerford]

I think the location is RAF Norton, with nearby houses of Sheffield in the background. Norton wasn't an airfield but had a small contingent of ground instructional types including an early 'square-tail' Vampire, an example of which can be seen in just behind the Spit.

[mike furline]

I would guess either RAF Norton or RAF Bicester.

TB308 30MU 5-1-45 CGS 15-6-50 3CAACU 28-10-53 nes 13-12-54 602S 12-8-55 to 7255M 6-3-58

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Norton
"Another Spitfire (TB308) was also based at Norton in the late 1950s, like PK724, it was used as an instructional aircraft.[22] TB308 was scrapped at RAF Bicester in the early 1960s, "

https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/RAF-Norton

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Last edited by mike furline on Sat Jul 20, 2024 1:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

[quemerford]

Definitely not Bicester: too rural and not surrounded by housing of this type/proximity.