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Salerno, Italy, October 1943. US Coast Guard ship unloads the troops and heavy equipment at the beach of Paestum. Spitfire Mk. VC JK707 was reportedly shot down by “firendly fire” – US naval anti-aircraft gunners.

JK707 MX-P served with 307th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, which supported the landing at Salerno operating out of Milazzo, an airfield on the north coast of Sicily. Spitfire pilots encountered few enemy aircraft, but the risks from the German flak and, as can be seen, firendly ground fire were still considerable.

Although it is not visible in the photo, JK707 was fully tropicalized and carried the Vokes filter under the nose. It was a 1943 production machine, powered by Merlin 50.
[US Navy, via Library of Congress]