Supermarine Spitfire Vc at the South Australian Aviation Museum
Constructed in 1942 by Westland Aircraft Ltd, Yeovil, Somerset, UK, Supermarine Spitfire EE853 transferred to Australia in 1943. It became part of the RAAF’s 79 SQN at Goodenough Island and later Kiriwina Island, PNG, using Squadron code UP-O. Given the RAAF registration A58-146, it helped protect bombers as far as Rabaul, New Britain. A landing accident on 28 August 1943 on Kiriwina Island saw it back on Goodenough Island for repairs. Langdon Badger found the aircraft in 1971 and had it shipped to Adelaide in 1973. After four years of restoration at Parafield Airport, Langdon displayed the Spitfire at his home in Adelaide. Since October 2001 the aircraft has been on display in the South Australian Aviation Museum on a long-term loan basis.
