Salterforth war veteran dies two years after savage attack (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Salterforth war veteran dies two years after savage attack

6:30pm Thursday 28th October 2010 in Salterforth By Jon Livesey, Reporter

A 91-year-old war veteran who was savagely beaten by burglars has died, two years after the attack.

Bob Schofield, who made the headlines when he was viciously assaulted in his Salterforth home the night before Armistice Day, 2008, died at Airedale General Hospital, in Steeton, last Wednesday.

He contracted pneumonia after a fall at the care home in Colne where he had lived for more than a year.

Yesterday, tributes were paid to Mr Schofield, who served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

His daughter-in-law, Dee, said: “He was always a very quiet and gentle person. He kept himself to himself and was very laid back.

“Even in the Royal Navy, nobody ever heard him swear. If he was doing anything and he said ‘strike a light’, you knew it was time to get out of his way. He was also a very strong person.”

Mr Schofield was assaulted while trying to protect his wife, Mollie, 87, during a robbery at their home in Chapel Hill.

Intruders entered the house while the couple were asleep in the early hours of November 10 — just hours after Remembrance Sunday.

Mr Schofield, then aged 89, confronted the intruders and was beaten repeatedly, causing facial injuries.

His wife was not physically injured but was left shocked. She died five months after the incident.

Police launched a manhunt for the burglars and a reconstruction of the robbery and assault was featured on BBC’s Crimewatch but, to date, no one has been charged with the crime.

Dee said: “After the attack, we would bring him over on Saturdays and take him for a walk.

"We would bump into people he knew and when they asked how he was, he would always say ‘champion’, even after what he had been through.

“We said at the time of the attack we thought he would go one way or another.

"He would give up and say, ‘that’s it, I have had enough’ or he would be his usual fighting self and get on with it.

"That’s exactly what he did, he got on with it.

“Obviously, Mollie’s death will have affected him, they were together more than 60 years, but he didn’t let it show.”

In addition to Dee, Mr Schofield leaves behind his son, John, grandchildren Jemma and Daniel and great- granddaughter Lola Molly.