Wealthy historian locked in £300k court battle with aircraft restorers over tribute to top Nazi pilot

A wealthy historian is locked in a £300,000 court battle with a group of aircraft restorers over his tribute to a top Nazi pilot.Retired accountant and history buff Terrence Coakley is suing Spitfire AA810 Restoration who he claims to have lent a six-figure sum to rebuild a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and paint it in the colours of Luftwaffe pilot, Gunther Rall.Mr Rall, who died in 2009 aged 91, was the third highest-scoring fighter pilot in history, having shot down 275 enemy planes in aerial duels while seeing combat during the invasion of France, the Battle of Britain, and on the Eastern Front.He flew a Messerschmitt Bf 109, known as the Me109, the workhorse of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. His plane was considered to be the scourge of the RAF during the Battle of Britain but the restoration project is causing fresh pain for Mr Coakley who says he lent the cash to the restorers to enable them to acquire a rare collection of Second World War artefacts.He agreed that Spitfire AA810 Restoration would restore the parts and then Mr Coakley would curate the display.In a dramatic turn of events, the case was brought before a judge at Central London County Court, after Mr Coakley's legal team applied for an urgent injunction ordering Spitfire to 'deliver up' the historic memorabilia.They claimed they had fears that the company had tried to sell off some of the items. Pictured: Retired accountant and history buff Terrence Coakley who suing Spitfire AA810 Restoration who he claims to have lent a six-figure sum to rebuild a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 German pilot Gunther Rall was the third highest-scoring fighter pilot in history, having shot down 275 enemy planes. Mr Coakley wanted to rebuild the Messerschmitt Bf 109 Barrister Tom Beasley said Mr Coakley and Spitfire AA810's boss, Tony Hoskins, travelled to Germany in February this year to buy the historic package of parts.Mr Coakley put up around £190,000 by way of a loan, with the balance coming as a donation from his Friends of British Aviation Heritage charity – where the American-born Mr Coakley is president.The plan was to use parts from a similar Buchon plane - a Spanish fighter which was heavily modelled on the Me109 - in order to refurbish the wreck of the Messerschmitt, which would be painted in Mr Rall's 'Black 13' colours and displayed variously at museums in England and the US.'The reason for the purchase was to achieve the restoration and display of an actual Me109 G aircraft that was as close as possible to a functioning Me109 G, in tribute to the pilot Gunther Rall,' he said.'It was intended that the claimant would be the curator of the planned restoration and display.'This was all agreed with Mr Hoskins and, through him, Spitfire. This objective was the reason that Mr Coakley and his charity, Friends of British Aviation Heritage, funded the purchase.'But since their purchase, Mr Coakley has lost track of the Buchon and other vintage aircraft parts, prompting his drastic decision to take legal action in the English courts, his barrister said.Claiming that Spitfire breached the terms of their loan agreement, Mr Coakley is also demanding repayment of any outstanding sums.'We still have no information about the location of the (Buchon) or about what has happened to the associated spares and the wreck,' Mr Coakley's barrister told Judge Mark Raeside.'We don't even know what country it's in,' he added. The parts of the plane which are at the centre of the dispute. The plan was to use parts from a similar Buchon plane - a Spanish fighter which was heavily modelled on the Me109 - in order to refurbish the wreck of the MesserschmittHe said Spitfire's boss, Mr Hoskins, had consistently failed to update and communicate with Mr Coakley about the disputed items after their purchase, prompting 'initial concerns' about their fate, which deepened when he learnt that Spitfire was allegedly trying to sell some of the items without his knowledge.However, lawyers for Spitfire have denied any impropriety by the company or its boss, also insisting that Mr Coakley has no rights over the artefacts – and especially not the debris of the Me109, which was never part of the loan agreement.'Terrence Coakley is not entitled to possession of the Buchon, or in fact any of the proprietary assets,' argued the company's barrister, William Richardson.Commenting on Mr Coakley's claims that he had understood he would be 'curator' for the plane display, he said this was significant as 'he appears to rely on these representations as giving him some sort of possessory interest in the proprietary assets that he does not in fact have'.And rejecting accusations that the company or Mr Hoskins tried to sell items in breach of the loan deal, the barrister urged there was no solid evidence to back the claim.'Tony Hoskins denies selling the Buchon or any of its associated parts, notwithstanding that the loan agreement does not explicitly prohibit him from so doing,' he told the judge.But Mr Coakley's barrister said there had been several incidents of attempted sale by Mr Hoskins or the company, stating in his written submissions: 'It came to his attention that (Spitfire) was secretly trying to sell non-wreck parts of the collateral.'His investigations have revealed that this was not a one-off, but a sustained effort over months. It appears that they have successfully sold some parts.'To support his claims, the barrister highlighted evidence he claimed demonstrated Spitfire's piecemeal efforts to sell some of the parts, including from the manager of Kent's Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum, who allegedly told Mr Coakley 'that Mr Hoskins had been trying to sell the DB 605 engine block and parts'.Those engine parts had been earmarked for use in rebuilding the Me109, the court heard.On top of this, messages from Mr Hoskins 'showed a general desire to sell as much of the collateral as possible on the continent in an apparently urgent attempt to raise funds', it was also claimed.Back in July this year, a concerned Mr Coakley secured a court order in Germany to bar Spitfire from exporting any plane parts still in that country, only to discover that the company 'was able to get the collateral out before the injunction was obtained'.Three months later, he learnt of attempts to sell off an aircraft 'drop tank', a cockpit canopy and other pieces, while Mr Hoskins had also allegedly indicated that 'the broader project itself was available for sale, including a complete but damaged wing, additional large wing sections, and a substantially complete fuselage'.After two hours in court, both sides ended up hammering out a temporary agreement, through which Spitfire will undertake 'not to deal with or dispose of anything including the wreck' until the case returns for a longer hearing later this month.Speaking outside court, Mr Coakley – who has collected a range of wartime memorabilia, including signatures of the British participants in the Battle of Britain – said he sees the planned exhibition as a tribute to Mr Rall's plane rather than the Nazi airman himself.'Maybe others might term it that way, a Rall tribute, I try to be careful, and just focus on the history, as no matter what, Rall was fighting on the wrong side and had contact with the worst of the worst Nazis.'I think it is for the historian to present the information, ask further questions, and let the observer decide.'