We in the year of VE-80 celebrations – the whole nation will be celebrating 80 years of peacetime as we all pay our respects to those who fought for our freedom.
The last ground level battle to take place on the mainland of Great Britain in World War Two ...
On 27th September 1940 'The Battle of Graveney Marsh' took place in Swale, Kent. It was the last ground level battle to take place on the mainland of Great Britain in World War Two - some five years before the war ended.
Up in the sky, a German plane, Junker Ju-88, was attacked by two spitfires from the RAF Fighter Command whilst flying over Whitstable.
The plane came down and crashed in marshland close to Graveney Marsh, Swale.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion London Irish Rifles were lodging at The Sportsman pub at Seasalter.
Hearing the crash the soldiers rushed to help and capture any of the pilots. On arriving at the crash site they found the German four-man crew were alive … and fighting. The pilots had armed themselves with machine guns from the plane and set upon the approaching soldiers. After a twenty-minute fight the German airmen surrendered.
Fearful the plane would explode, Captain John Cantopher bravely approached it, turned the engine off and removed explosives. For this he was awarded a George Medal.
The British soldiers took their captives to the Sportsman and gave them a pint before handing them over to a Prisoner of War camp.
Capturing the plane turned out to be a double victory as it was a new type of plane that the Germans had only brought into service just two weeks before. It provided the experts of the Air Ministry with highly valuable information.
