Adrian Francis Laws

Pilot Officer Adrian Francis Laws (10 August 1912–30 September 1940) was a British RAF pilot and flying ace during the Battle of Britain. He was killed on 30 September 1940 after colliding with another Spitfire while training new pilots.

Early life
Laws was born in East Dereham, Norfolk and attended the County Primary School at Wells-next-the sea, Norfolk until the age of 14. His parents ran a sweet shop on Staithe Street. His daughter, Susan Mary Laws, was born two weeks after his death. He learned to shoot using a .410 shotgun to hunt rabbits in the fields around Wells-next-the-sea with his classmate Allan Tuck, who named his first son Adrian Francis in memory of his friend.

Military career
Aged 19, Laws enlisted with the RAF in 1931 as an Aircrafthand and trained as a Storekeeper. He applied and was accepted for pilot training and began flying at No. 4 Flight Training School at RAF Abu Sueir in July 1935. He joined No. 64 Squadron RAF at Ismailia on 20 April 1936, as a Sergeant-Pilot. Equipped with two-seater Demons they were to return to the UK in September 1936.

By late 1939 Laws was flying Blenheims out of RAF Church Fenton in the Leconfield sector. 64 Squadron was then converted to the new Spitfire Mark I which a nearly promoted Flight Sergeant Laws now flew.

12th June 1940
Laws first success came on 12 June whilst participating in the hunt and destruction of what appeared to be a lone He 111. The battle was still in its early days and this is reflected by the length and detail of the combat reports. Later on in the battle a more sanguine Laws is to comment "closed into attack and usual dog-fight ensued". But here, both he and Gilbert describe every twist and turn of the engagement.

The incident also shows the deadly effect of radar and observer tracking. The lone bomber trying to sneak out at zero feet was not allowed to escape. Laws and Gilbert, supposed to fly in section, actually left the ground ten minutes apart. So it was Gilbert who found the raider first and emptied his guns into the enemy aircraft. One engine was damaged and one gunner was killed or injured.

A short time later the He 111 was to become the object of Laws' attention. He hounded the damaged bomber to wave-top height with two passes. While two other Spitfires arrived to take shots at what was now a wallowing enemy, Laws emptied his guns and watched the bomber settle on the water. His reluctance to leave his first kill is evident as he describes circling the plane and seeing the crew inflating their dinghy.

29th July 1940
By this time 64 Squadron were being led by Aeneas MacDonell, a man who would go on to have a distinguished RAF career. He had been heavily involved in the fighting over the convoys on 25 July. He had bagged a Ju 87 Stuka before he himself was badly shot up in combat with a Ju 88 off Dover. MacDonnell however was unhurt and managed to land safely. MacDonell, official head of the Glengarry clan, was to say about his squadron's pilots "...it's like holding a team of wild horses when there are Germans near".

On this day the pilots of 64 Squadron found their action amongst the German fighters when they engaged a flight of Me 109s over St. Margaret's Bay at eight o'clock in the morning and Laws downed an Me 109.

11th August 1940
The German's planned "Eagle Day" was cancelled for the second day running due to the cloudy weather that prevailed. In place of this operation the Luftwaffe mounted a "free chase" over Sussex. The formation consisted of more than 30 fighters and the German plan was to draw the RAF interceptors away from bombing raids going into Weymouth and Portland. Four squadrons took the bait and 64 Squadron were vectored to intercept the force as it started to make its way home.

The rear section was the first to spot the enemy who had a 5000 ft height advantage. It seems the squadron had found about half the retreating force of Me 109's. There then followed a strange processional attack by the Germans which overshot the 8 Spitfires of 64 Squadron who then pounced to their own attack.

The Me 109 that Laws attacked was on the tail of Blue 1. Assuming the Messerschmitt had some ammunition left, the pilot of Blue 1 had reason to be thankful. It was Pilot Officer Gilbert, who was destined to survive the war. There is almost an air of disappointment in the description of the enemy tactics in the last paragraph of the Squadron Combat Report. They may have been largely new pilots, drafted in to replace mounting Luftwaffe losses of more experienced fighters. Or maybe they had expended too much ammunition and fuel in previous engagements and were simply running for home. The cloudy conditions meant that none of the aircraft engaged could be confirmed as destroyed.

13th August 1940 - Eagle Day
Bomber attacks were directed towards British airfields on this day but a combination of fighter resistance and thick clouds served to foil them.

Also it seems that the bomber crews were suffering from frayed nerves. Laws was a member of "Flight B" when they spotted a formation that they identified as Dornier 215s. The enemy, set on a north-easterly course, needed no more persuasion than the sight of Spitfires to turn and run for home. Once on the run the formation opted simply for speed and wasted no energy on evasion. However, when Laws latched onto his tail one German pilot decided to fight for his life. He led Laws into a series of steep diving turns that challenged both Laws and his Spitfire to keep up. The German, with his rear gunner disabled from the initial attack, may have believed he'd done enough to lose his Law's Spitfire and straightened up to dive for cloud. He reached the cloud, but took more hits to the fuselage.

15th August 1940 - The coining of "The Few"
The results of the engagements that took place on the 15th can be seen as a victory for the escorting German fighters in as much as they held back the intercepting British fighters and the bombers pressed home their attack. It also symbolises the courage of the newly christened "Few" as Churchill was to describe them..

Eighty-eight Dornier 17's approached Deal escorted by more than 130 Me 109s. At least 60 more Me 109s crossed the Kent coast at Dover. Three airborne squadrons were sent to intercept - 36 British fighters against 278 enemy planes, odds of more than 7-1, fighter-to-fighter odds of 5-1.

It was the 60 Messerschmitts over Dover that were to meet 64 Squadron. The Squadron Combat Report well conveys the swift and dangerous environment of the ensuing battle that raged back across the Channel towards the French coast. MacDonnell waded into four Me 109s, destroying one before being forced to evade the attack of two more. Gilbert knocked an Me 109 off the tail of a Spitfire with a devastating five second burst before himself being hit.

Laws bagged his second confirmed Me 109 with a beam attack as the enemy slowed slightly at the top of a turn. Two more three second bursts into the tail of the diving enemy set the Me 109 ablaze.

18th August 1940 - The Hardest Day
On this day a low level flight of Dorniers from the Luftwaffe's 9th Staffel and another force of Junkers 88s, combined with a higher level bombing group of more Dorniers to completely fox the defences and deal out severe damage to RAF Kenley's airfield.

Adrian Laws and Flight Sergeant Gilbert seem to have administered a coup de grace to an unfortunate bomber and added insult to the injury by claiming an He 111. Laws went on from the engagement with the Heinkel to save an unknown Hurricane pilot by sho0ting down a Me 110 from his tail. It was to prove to be Law's last 'kill'.

Death
Laws fatal accident was witnessed by American pilot Art Donahue. His diaries, later published as ''Tally-Ho! - A Yankee in a Spitfire'' noted:

Later, Donahue writes:

The accident
The character described as "Nels" in Donahue's account was in fact Sgt. Frederick Fenton Vinyard. This 24 year old from Birmingham had joined 64 Squadron on 15 September. Laws was flying Spitfire P9564 and Vinyard piloted K9805. Both were acting as a target formation for a section of Spitfires who were carrying out practise fighter attacks. Who the other pilots were is not recorded, but it is known that Sgt. Hopgood, Sgt. Limpenny and Pilot Officer Stanley were new arrivals at 64 Squadron at the end of September. They may well have made up the "attacking section".

Laws and Vinyard were flying at an altitude of 3000 ft when the accident occurred at 10.45. The following is from an Air Ministry and sources quoted by the Ministry were the RAF Casualty index and the P file held in archive at Hayes:

Exactly how the accident happened is unknown. The following is from another Air Ministry letter written to the author.

Vinyard's other two section members on that day were Flying Officer A. J. A. Laing and Pilot Officer Arthur Gerald Donahue.