ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 21928
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| Date: | Thursday 15 August 1940 |
| Time: | 14:20 LT |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 605 (County of Warwick) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P2717 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Hartlepool Golf Course, Hart Warren, Hartlepool, County Durham -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Drem, East Lothian |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 P2717 of 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron, RAF: Damaged in combat operations 15th August 1940. Aircraft was badly damaged during action with Messerschmitt Bf110s of ZG.76 Luftwaffe off the mouth of the River Tyne; hit by return fire and crash-landed, overturned in a field, at Hartlepool Golf Course, Hart Warren, Hartlepool, County Durham (at approximate co ordinates: 54.7178°N 1.2376°W)
Pilot - Service Number 42267 Pilot Officer Kenneth Schadtler-Law RAF - seriously injured and was admitted to West Hartlepool Hospital.
According to the Squadron ORB:
"By now the Germans were spilt into two loose formations and were approaching Easington Colliery from the south-west. P/O Eric Jones and P/O Kenneth Schadtler-Law attacked the last enemy aircraft in the first formation, sending it spiralling into a dive. Kenneth Schadtler-Law continued to pursue his foe over the colliery and sent it crashing into the sea three miles east of the pit-head.
During his final attack Kenneth Schadtler-Law's Hurricane was hit by return fire and he quickly decided that it was damaged enough to prevent him reaching a suitable airfield. Ken chose his landing spot, Hartlepool Golf Course, and he made for an area near to the sand dunes. He lowered his landing gear and made a low approach. Invisible from the air was a wire fence which separated the golf course from a wheat field and this acted as an arrester wire catching his wheels as he passed overhead. The aircraft yawed several time and finally tipped onto it's nose. It teetered for a moment then fell over onto it's back.
A local man Edwin Stephenson who had witnessed the "landing" ran towards the aircraft together with some soldiers who were on coastal defence duties nearby. Edwin helped lift the wing while Kenneth Schadtler-Law was released from his harness by two of the soldiers. Kenneth Schadtler-Law had sustained a badly gashed head and a nearby doctor called Hall diagnosed he was suffering from concussion and arranged for him to be taken to hospital in Hartlepool"
Aircraft was repaired, and later served with 302 Squadron, 56 OTU, Merchant Ship Fight Unit, and 59 OTU before being relegated to a ground instructional aircrft in March 1945 as 5054M
Pilot Officer Kenneth Schadtler-Law, survived the war, stayed in the RAF postwar and retired on 1st July 1968 as a Wing Commander. He later changed his name to Law. He died on 7th May 1986 in Purley, Surrey.
NOTE: Some published sources (see link #2) give the crash location as "Grayfields near Hart Railway Station, Hartlepool, County Durham"
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976)
2. https://ne-diary.genuki.uk/Inc/ISeq_06.html
3. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Schadtler-Law.htm
4. National Airchives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1412: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502778
5. http://www.the-battle-of-britain.co.uk/pilots/Sa-pilots.html#Schadtler-LawK
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartlepool_Golf_Club
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Aug-2008 23:37 | Anon. | Added |
| 03-Jan-2012 14:06 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 18-Jan-2012 06:46 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport] |
| 26-May-2019 00:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
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