On 2nd January 1940 this 41 Squadron aircraft suffered engine failure near Thornaby airfield so, at 10.45hrs, the pilot force landed the aircraft on Thornaby airfield. The aircraft airframe was not further damaged but it required a new engine. 41 Squadron were using Thornaby as a forward operating base in their operational patrols of the North Sea.
Pilot - F/O William Ernest Legard RAF (34045), of Scampston, Yorkhire.
Billy Legard was born in Brompton Hall, Yorkshire in 1911, he arrived at 41 Squadron on 26th November 1939. He was killed when Spitfire P9314 was shot down on 1st June 1940, he was 29 years old. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The Legard family own Scampston and West Knapton Halls in Ryedale, through marriage Billy Legard is a direct descendant of George Cayley (also of Brompton Hall), the founder of aviation as we know it.
Spitfire K9835 was built to contract 527113/36 by Vickers Armstrong's (Supermarine) Ltd at Woolston and was delivered to 41 Squadron at Catterick on 3rd January 1939. It
moved with the unit to Wick on 19th October 1939 and back to
Catterick six days later. It was slightly damaged at Catterick on 2nd December 1939, with Cat.M/FA damage being recorded, it was repaired on site and returned to the unit.
It was damaged twice in early 1940, a Cat.U/FA on 2nd January 1940 (as detailed above), and a
Cat.R/FA incident on 13th February 1940 (also as listed on this website) again at Catterick, after the later incident repair was deemed to be beyond unit repair. It was
repaired in works and was transported to 4 MU at
Ruislip on 26th February 1940 for repair. On completion of repair it went to into store with 6 MU at Brize Norton on 9th June 1940 and was then issued to 7 OTU at Hawarden on 17th June 1940. 7 OTU became 57 OTU on 1st November 1940. It suffered a
further Cat.R/FA accident on 10th February 1941 when it suffered engine failure and hit a tree in a forced landing at Llandrillo-yn-Rhos, near Colwyn Bay. From here it was
dismantled and removed to Vickers Armstrong's (Supermarine) Ltd
at Woolston for repair on 26th February 1941. On completion of repair it was returned to 57 OTU at Hawarden on an unknown date in April 1941. It then suffered a
Cat.M/FA accident on 12th April 1941 when the undercarriage
collapsed on landing at Sealand. It was repaired on site and returned to the unit on an unknown date but probably did not take long to repair. It suffered a further
Cat.R/FA mishap on 8th November 1941 when it was belly landed
at Hawarden. Again it was repaired on site by a team from V.A.(Supermarine) Ltd from Woolston and returned to the unit on 13th December 1941. It then transferred to 61
OTU at Rednal on 1st February 1943 and then back to
57 OTU at Eshott on 13th February 1943. It then was involved in another accident, this time Cat.B/FA, on 16th June 1943 althoughno details are known. On completion of
repair it went to 33 MU at Lyneham (ASU) on 3rd October 1943 and was then
issued to 58 OTU at Grangemouth on 8th November 1943. It transferred to 1 TEU at Tealing on 26th February 1944 and was struck off charge as a time expired airframe on
22nd August 1944.