F/O MERVYN WHEATLEY & SPITFIRE PR IB N3069 PROJECT

REMEMBERING F/O MERVYN WHEATLEY & SPITFIRE PR IB N3069 PROJECT

Photos ©Ruud Leeuw (2025)

On 22Aug25 I visited the museum of Sander Woonings in Doetinchem (NL) for his work-in-progress, building a tribute WW2 Supermarine Spitfire plus all the data he collected on the fatal crash near where he lived/lives and which caused the death of F/O Mervyn Wheatley, on 22March1940, shot down by a Luftwaffe Messcherschmitt BF.109 (even before the Germans invaded The Netherlands in May that year).

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Remembering F/O Mervyn Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
This build represents Spitfire N3069 of F/O Mervyn Wheatley. The photo's show its current status.
There is no history of the cockpit part. It is a combination of new construction with original parts. The only part
with known history is frame 10. This comes from the Spitfire that flies in the historical flight of the
Koninklijke Luchtmacht Historische Vlucht (Royal Netherlands Air Force Historical Flight) .

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
In 2020 the project had the opportunity to obtain a full scale replica Spitfire cockpit section.
This cockpit replica will be rebuild as Mervyn's Spitfire N3069. It was extremely difficult to get it across / to
collect it from the UK due to the COVID travel restrictions but in 2021 the transport plus parts was realized.

Many visitors visiting the exhibit ask how much of the existing airframe of Spitfire N3069 is original material.
Well, N3069 was recovered back in March 1940 so not much survived that could be used in the rebuild.
But it is intended to use as much as generic original Spitfire parts as possible. The project is always on the lookout
for original parts and a few of the parts found are shown in the photos.

Spitfire PR IB N3069 - Remembering F/O Mervyn Wheatley | By Sander woonings

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Visit by appointment, free but donations welcomed

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Spitfires N3069 and N3071 were the very first PR Spitfires ever to be used as a PR platform. Both aircraft were
lost within a month of each other. N3069 with Mervyn Wheatley on the 22nd March 1940 (KIA, east of Arnhem) and
N3071 on the 21st April 1940 with Snowy Milne (PoW) South of Stuttgart. Both pilots were intercepted at very high altitude by Bf 109E pilots of JG 51.

Spitfire PR IB N3069 - Remembering F/O Mervyn Wheatley | By Sander woonings

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Note the guns removed and the gaps closed off

'PR Type A (PR Mk.I) The first two PR Spitfires were given to Sydney Cotton on 16 October 1939.
He worked hard to increase the speed of the aircraft. The guns were removed to reduce weight and the gun ports sealed over. As many joins and gaps in the fuselage as possible were closed over to improve speed.
The cockpit replaced by a sliding hood with teardrop shaped blisters on each side, to improve visibility.
Finally, two F.24 5in cameras were placed in the wings in place of the inner gun, pointing down.
One of these aircraft became the first Spitfire to operate overseas when it joined the British expeditionary forces in France in November 1939. On 18 November she flew her first PR mission, over Aachen (the weather prevented her pilot from taking any useful pictures).'
¬ www.historyofwar.org/ weapons_spitfire_PR

Note: Both N3069 & N3071 were lost as a PR IB.
Also a note explaining the N-number, which is not a US FAA N-number... The Spitfire registration began with the first delivered batch with a K. Then followed other letters from the alphabet... and thus also the N. [¬ S.Woonings]

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Camera plus assembly

Sander wrote: "Researching the story of F/O Mervyn Wheatley and researching the early development of the photographic reconnaissance of the RAF go hand in hand...
Researching the history of the two very first PR Spitfires N3069 and N3071 is one of many interesting topics.
It is know that both Spitfires were fitted with two vertical F.24 cameras. One in each wing fitted within the ammunition compartment for the inner .303s.
Recent research suggest that more was going on at the time that both aircraft were lost.
Mervyn's Spitfire N3069 was perhaps also fitted with a vertical F.24 20in fuselage camera.
Photographic evidence of Spitfire N3071 carefully suggest that it was fitted with an additional oblique camera." >>>More on this on Sander's Facebook page (link bottom page)

Also from Sander's FB page (it has more on the service details, here copied only in part)
"Spitfire PR IB N3069 was ordered, as a standard Spitfire I, in September 1938 as part of contract
B527113/36 and build at the Supermarine works in Eastleigh.
It was delivered to No.6 Maintenance Unit (6 MU) on 12 October 1939 and just two days later delivered to the highly secret HESTON FLIGHT.
N3069 was modified as a PR Spitfire at the Royal Aircraft Establishment(RAE) at Farnborough and she flew from Heston Aerodrome to Farnborough and back for different types of PR modifications and test flights."
Source ¬AVIA 1/13 RAE Farnborough Movement Log 19 Jun 39 – 28 Feb 41.

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Fueltank.
Mervyn's Spitfire N3069 was fitted with a 29 Gallon Auxiliary fuel tank.
A modification which was carried out early 1940.

Upstairs is esspecially about the biography of F/O Mervyn Wheatley and German info
Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Sander woonings taking his time detailing his story on this fatal crash, the specs
of the photo recce Spitfire, his link with the crashsite and quest to find the parts...
He also made it an important point to meet the family of Mervyn Wheatley and staying in contact.

Sander explains his history with the research on F/O Wheatley and Spitfire N3069:
As a little child, I heard the story of a plane crash when we were playing in that area. Around my 18th, I started my research in earnest. PR IC. N3069
Initiated by the original newspaper article, followed by many archive visits, both domestically and abroad.
I always wanted to become an archaeologist, hence my early interest in history...

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
F/O Mervyn Wheatley is the very first PR Spitfire pilot lost on operations in the Second World War.

When shot by a Messerschmitt Bf.109 Wheatley had to bail out of his Spitfire,
but alas he hit his head on the tail after he climbed out, his parachute did not deploy.

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Spitfire PR IB N3069 - Remembering F/O Mervyn Wheatley | By Sander woonings

Remember F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
The Spitfire crashed on the Dutch side of the Rhine while Wheatley's body landed
on the German side of the Rhine. It was the first plane to be crashing in The Netherlands
during World War II.

Remembering F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire

Remembering F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire
Location of the crash near Herwen en Aerdt.

Spitfire PR IB N3069 - Remembering F/O Mervyn Wheatley | By Sander woonings (@Facebook)

Remembering F/O Mervy Wheatly and his fatal crash in his photo recce Spitfire

One of the many details thrown at me by Sander Woonings was about the development of the photo reconnaissance model (P.R.) of the Spitfire. One was that to increase the range everything that could be abolished was taken out, including armament! The camera just fitted in the ammunition box. Photo recce was abolished between WW1 - WW2 and had to be reestablished shortly before World War Two.

'While the Spitfires of Fighter Command continued to be based in Britain, at the insistence of Air Vice Marshal Hugh Dowding, from late 1939 there were early photo-reconnaissance Spitfires of 'No 2 Camouflage Unit' operating from Seclin in France, gathering photo-intelligence of German defences and cities.
Throughout the Second World War, photo-reconnaissance Spitfires kept up a constant flow of photographic intelligence, in a role far removed from that of short-range interceptor fighter.' ¬ Wikipedia

The Spitfire PR IB N3069 - Remembering F/O Mervyn Wheatley project won the Best European Documentary award at the South Coast Film Festival. We played a small part in helping our good friends with this fabulous
Photo Reconnaissance history production and we are really pleased for what they have achieved.
You can watch this award-winning documentary here: youtube.com/watch
Sander Woonings presents: Spitfire Overdue
Sander Woonings present: SPITFIRE OVERDUE (documentary)
"Proudly presenting the official film poster for the documentary about Flying Officer Mervyn Wheatley.
F/O Mervyn Wheatley's face is shown over an aerial photograph of the area where his Spitfire came down in 1940. Aprox. running time of circa 45 minutes. We first a Dutch version and will start working for an English version after the Dutch premiere in 2023."
Sander's facebook page 'Spitfire PR N3069 / Remembering FO Mervyn Wheatley' has many details
on the progress of Sander's search for information and making valuable contacts. Link bottom page.

The monument near the crash site ( )

Location @Puttmanskrib near Herwen (gemeente Zevenaar)
Mervyn was reinterred to the Reichswald Forrest War Cemetery on 25April1947, now residing in grave 3-F-14.
There's a photo on Sander's tribute Facebook page (link below)

LINKS
www.facebook.com/SpitfireN3069
DO VISIT THIS SITE FOR THERE IS MUCH TO MORE LEARN AND ENJOY ABOUT THIS PROJECT &
ALL SORTS OF WW2 HISTORIC DETAILS !

Created 28-Aug-2025 | Updated 27-Jan-2026

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