World War 2 plane crash seat finds home in museum

A pilot's seat recovered from a downed World War Two plane will be given to a museum in Kent after the pilot's daughter campaigned to have it displayed.

Laura Stopforth, from Tilehurst in Berkshire, owned the Bristol Blenheim seat which was was recovered by a farmhand in northern France in May 1940.

Her father Jack Bartley, the aircraft's gunner and wireless operator, survived being shot down and was later reunited with the seat on a trip to the Ardennes.

The seat will now be displayed at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum.

Mr Bartley had initially donated the seat to a museum in France, but it was returned to Ms Stopforth when the museum was forced to close years later.

Ms Stopforth said her attempts to donate the seat was turned down several times before she was put in touch with the museum in Hawkinge, Kent, who were keen to take it.

"It's such good news," she said. "[My father] wasn't interested in keeping it as a personal memory... he was much more interested in having it tell a story."

She added: "The most important thing is [The Kent Battle of Britain Museum] focuses on the stories of the men behind the artefacts and that's exactly what we wanted."

Aged 19, Mr Bartley was part of No. 21 Squadron, based out of RAF Watton in Norfolk.

On 14 May 1940, during the bombing raid on a convoy of German tanks in northern France, his plane was shot out of the sky.

"My dad thought he was a goner I think," Ms Stopforth previously said.

"In his memoirs, he describes being able to see the trees beneath him brushing the fuselage, and truly thought he was going to die."

Crash-landing in woodland, Mr Bartley sustained multiple shrapnel wounds, but survived along with his two crew members.

Dave Brocklehurst, from The Kent Battle of Britain Museum, said the seat was the "perfect" item.

"We commemorate 2,938 men known as 'The Few', of which 800 flew Bristol Blenheims, so it's a very critical aircraft to us.

"But we're also keen to set the scene of the Battle of Britain by telling the story of the Battle of France, so it's the perfect way to tell the story of the Blenheim crews."

Mr Brocklehurst said the seat would go on display in one of the museum's hangars.

His team are now trying to find out more about Mr Bartley's crew for when the museum is due to reopen in March 2025.

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