Supermarine Mark XVI Serial Number TB863
Built at Vickers Armstrong's Castle Bromwich "shadow factory", near Birmingham, in late 1944. The aircraft was test flown from Castle Bromwich and subsequently delivered to No. 19 Maintenance Unit at RAF St Athan on 27 February 1945. It was issued to No. 453 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (one of a number of empire units serving with the RAF) based at Matlask, Norfolk on 22 March as a replacement for a Spitfire which forced landed in Holland.
Spitfire TB863's restoration was completed in 1988 by The Fighter Collection at Duxford UK and since then has taken pride of place in Sir Tim Wallis's Alpine Fighter Collection at Wanaka in New Zealand. The Spitfire is currently painted in a World War II paint scheme and wears the same markings as when it served with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) over the skies of Europe.
