A Hawker Fury II.
This aircraft crashed into the sea wall at Whitby on 14th May 1937 after the pilot had attempted to force land the aircraft on the beach after he became lost in sea fog. The engine apparently stalled in a steep turn whilst he was avoiding cliffs. The pilot was seriously injured in the incident, he was found still strapped into his cockpit but was trapped in the badly damaged aircraft.
Prior to the crash he was seen to fly over the harbour area and then head north and attempt the landing, he hit the sea wall head on. narrowly missing workmen. Two other RAF crashes that day were attributed to the same foggy conditions. The pilot sustained serious injuries to his head said to include the loss of an eye, he also had a broken leg. Fortunately the fuel did not catch fire preventing him from probable death. The crash was partly blamed on the formation leader, reasons for this are unclear due to an unreadable AM1180 crash record card.
Fury K8220 was built to contract 419059/35 by General Aircfraft Ltd at Hanworth and delivered directly to 9 FTS on 24th July 1936. Following this incident it was originally given Cat.R/FA damage but after assessment it was given as Cat.W/FA and struck off charge on 18th August 1937.
Pilot - Acting P/O Stephen Austin Levenson RAF. Injured.
I suspect all trace of the aircraft is long gone, it is thought to have crashed onto this part of the beach.
When WW2 broke out he re-joined in the RAFVR and re-trained as a bomber pilot but as an NCO in rank. By September 1942 he had risen to Warrant Officer and had been posted to 214 Squadron. On 19th September 1942 he was the pilot of Stirling R9350 flying Ops to Essen when his aircraft was shot down by a night-fighter and crashed in Belgium. He and four of his crew died while two became PoW's. W/O Levenson was buried in Haverlee War Cemetery, Belgium.
Stephen Levenson was the son of Alexander Levenson and of Agnes Levenson (nee Fretwell), he was born Wandsworth, London in 1918. He was granted a short service commission in the RAF as acting P/O on probation on 24th August 1936. He was graded as P/O on probation on 26th November 1937 and was confirmed in the rank of P/O on 27th February 1938. He trained at 10 FTS, Perth prior to posting to 9 FTS at Thornaby where he gained his Wings around Christmas 1936. Prior to the crash at Whitby he had clocked up a total flying time of 144 hours of which 12 hours were in the Fury type. As a result of the injuries sustained at Whitby it resulted in him resigning his short service commission on 19th October 1938 probably on the account of ill-health.