Number 16 – Autumn 2020 CHATHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY Medway Chronicle 'Keeping Medway's History Alive'

The Blitz and the Battle of Britain: The Medway Towns during World War II ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Ordnance Street ● Fort Bridgewoods ● Short's Factory Newcomb Diary ● Grafton Avenue ● Hawthorne Road

1 CHATHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY meets at St Stephen's Church, Maidstone Road, Chatham, ME4 6JE on the second Wednesday of each month except January and August. Doors open at 7:15pm and the meeting starts at 7:30pm.

News and information about Chatham Historical Society is available on the website: www.chathamhistoricalsoc.btck.co.uk

Officers of the committee President Vacancy Chairman Len Feist Hon Secretary Catharina Clement Hon Treasurer Barry Meade

MEDWAY CHRONICLE is published by Chatham Historical Society. Editor Christopher Dardry Contributors as credited throughout the magazine.

Views expressed by contributors do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Society. Copyright remains with the authors.

The Editor welcomes articles for inclusion in future issues of the Medway Chronicle. Please submit text and images in electronic form by email to [email protected] or on paper to the editor at any of the society's meetings. (The editor prefers email.)

The Medway Chronicle is produced with the financial support of MEDWAY COUNCIL.

Front cover: Mr Steven Foy, a survivor of the Ordnance Street bombing in December 1940, standing beside the Memorial Plaque.

2 Index The Battle of Britain...... 4 The Newcomb Diary...... 6 Chatham’s Blitz...... 9 Ordnance Street Memories...... 11 Chatham Bombs...... 12 Hometown Hero: The Secret Life of Roy E. Hardy, Esq...... 17 The Chase, Chatham:A German plane crash 15th September 1940...... 29 The V1 Rainham railway incident on the 16th August 1944...... 32 Pobjoys & Short Brothers...... 35 The Fallen Eagle...... 38 Grafton Avenue Wartime Memories...... 42 Grafton Avenue...... 44 Attack on Station Road, Strood on the 2nd March 1944...... 45 Wickham Street, Rochester...... 48 Hawthorn Road, Strood bombings: An account of memories and brave acts...... 52 Gillingham Raids of 26-28th August 1940...... 55 Message from our former President, Brian Joyce...... 57 The Editor always has the last word...... 57

3 The Battle of Britain by Brian Joyce

After Britain evacuated its troops from Dunkirk and other French ports and a Franco­German armistice was signed, Hitler issued several “appeals to reason”, urging Britain to make peace. He was ignored, so the Germans reluctantly prepared to invade in “Operation Sea Lion”.

To help safeguard their ships and troop­carrying barges, German air superiority over the Channel was vital. From 12 August 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked RAF airfields, supply lines, aircraft factories and radar stations: what Churchill was to call the Battle of Britain had begun.

There were 53 major attacks on airfields during the next four weeks. For example, Eastchurch and Detling RAF stations were hit, the attack on the latter killing 68 people including its Commanding Officer. RAF Manston and nearby Ramsgate were targeted, and at the end of August there were repeated raids on Biggin Hill. Aircraft were destroyed and airfield infrastructure severely damaged in these attacks, but superhuman efforts by ground crew and others soon restored much of their operational capacity.

The RAF and the Civilian Repair Unit patched up damaged aircraft at the average rate of 160 a week. A third of the aircraft assigned to Fighter Command during this period were salvaged planes fitted with cannibalised parts. Meanwhile the Ministry of Aircraft Production under the dynamic Lord Beaverbrook was organising the construction of an average of 63 Hurricanes and 33 Spitfires a week.

The Spitfire remains the iconic fighter of “The Battle of Britain”, thanks to its aesthetic design and the praise heaped on it by its pilots, although the larger and slower Hurricane outnumbered the “Spit” by a ratio of 3:2. People were encouraged to donate money to so­called “Spitfire Funds”, the idea for which originated in Jamaica. Towns and employers set up these collections and were then entitled to christen a specific plane once the target of £5000 (less than half of the actual cost of a Spitfire) was reached. JL Lyons the caterer named “its” plane The Nippy after the nickname for its waitresses, and the Kennel Club christened theirs The Dog Fighter.

Supposedly to facilitate the construction of these aircraft, civilians were urged to donate aluminium household goods at collection points run by the Women’s Voluntary Service. However, the utility of such hardware was debatable, and it

4 remained possible to buy aluminium goods in the shops. The intention of this campaign could well have been to boost morale by encouraging donors to believe they were contributing to the war effort.

Fighter Command’s problem during the Battle of Britain was not so much a scarcity of aircraft as a shortage of pilots. Despite their training period being eventually slashed to a mere two weeks (or perhaps because of it), the RAF lost pilots faster than they could be replaced. Between July and October 1940, 481 pilots from Fighter Command were killed, were reported missing or taken prisoner.

While many fighter pilots conformed to the breezy public­school stereotype, they were augmented by lower middle and working class “Sergeant Pilots” from the RAF Volunteer Reserve which had been created in 1936. Neither should it forgotten that a fifth of what Churchill dubbed “The Few” were non­British. Many were from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and across the Empire. Others were from Europe; 145 Polish pilots and 88 Czechoslovaks took part in the Battle of Britain, for example. Ground crew and others were recruited from Britain’s Caribbean possessions.

Historians disagree as to why the Luftwaffe switched its attentions away from airfields to major cities and industrial centres from early September 1940, but it certainly enabled the RAF to reorganise and repair itself. The Battle was far from over though, the week of 7 to 15 September being the most perilous for Britain. Battle of Britain Day is commemorated on the latter. By then Luftwaffe losses were running at 25%, which was unsustainable. Autumn and rough seas were approaching; on 20 September, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion for the time being. The RAF had earned Britain a reprieve which, as it turned out, was permanent.

The diplomat Harold Nicholson could not foresee this when he wrote to his wife Vita Sackville West after the crisis: “I think we have avoided losing the war, but when I think how we are going to win it, my imagination quails”. These sentiments were probably shared by most of the British people.

5 The Newcomb Diary

A few years ago Chatham Historical Society was given permission to make a replica of an original diary written every day during the years of the Second World War by George West, company secretary of a navy tailors, hosiers, hatters and shirt makers in Chatham High Street called Newcomb's. This replica of the "Newcomb War Diary" is dedicated to the memory of Mr West, the Newcomb and Paine families, and all Medway people – both service personnel and civilians – who lived through the events described in it. Newcomb's opened for business in 1854. After the original shop was demolished when the Sir John Hawkins flyover was built, the business moved along the High Street to the corner of Medway Street. Mr Gerald Newcomb is still trading as Penguins Dress Hire.

The replica was paid for by Chatham Historical Society and a generous donation by the late Mr and Mrs W. Paine, and has been available to view at public events and libraries in the Medway Towns. The Paine family ran outfitter's shops in Chatham

6 and Strood as well as being the founders of the Chatham Reliance Building Society.

The Newcomb Diary replica is currently in the custody of Medway Archives Centre and the original remains with the Newcomb family.

George Ernest West, the company secretary, was tasked with keeping and recording the diary entries by William Newcomb. He was born in St Margaret’s parish in Rochester in 1901 and attended St Margaret’s school from 1906. By 1939 he was a shop salesman and storekeeper at Newcomb’s outfitters at 133 High Street, Chatham. MacKay printers supplied the business with the specially made monthly record sheets which were later bound into a leather diary with a gold title, measuring 22 by 18 inches. On these monthly sheets George West recorded local, national and international war events. He also listed the times of the daily air raid warnings in a column on the right­hand side of the diary. George West’s legacy has left a remarkable insight into the Medway Towns during World War II.

It was the ownership of this replica Newcomb diary and an evening with Peter Cook, the Medway Messenger’s Medway Memories columnist, that inspired us to find out more about events recorded in the diary. The diary could in this way be brought to life through the accounts of local bombing and experiences. We embarked upon this project on two society evenings in September 2018 and 2019, working in groups on

7 certain bombing events and plane crashes with material supplied from Medway Archives Centre. This led to lively discussions amongst some groups, diligent research by others and a look of puzzlement on a few faces. A couple of members started plotting the bombing incidents on maps and others wrote up their group finding and research in articles to be included in this edition. A couple of members went further and collected the wartime memories of older members and visitors. These are also available to read in the magazine.

The Newcomb diary has seen a number of recent outings with the society. Two stand out. In November 2018 we had a table at St Stephen’s Church annual Xmas fete and took along the diary as a sample of our activities. We were in the right location where everyone had to pass us and so the three of us were busy that afternoon explaining the importance of the diary to visitors. Many had heard of or remembered the Grafton Road bombing in 1944 just up the road from us. The vicar was aware of the event and pointed out that the church war memorial included the civilian war dead from that incident. We were given permission by him to photograph the memorial board and features later on in this issue.

The second occasion was an invite by Medway Archives Centre to our society to have a presence at their World War II Open Day in October last year. We had several tables right by the entrance to display the Newcomb Diary, our research and mapping of the local bombing. Five members manned the society tables that day and were busy throughout with over 100 visitors both young and old. It is through these sorts of events that we raise the awareness of the Diary outside of our society and Medway Archives Centre.

8 Chatham’s Blitz by Barry Meade

On 5th October 1940 and again on 14th. December, heavy bombing devastated a large area of Ordnance Street, Chatham.

At least 24 residents were killed, 30 people were seriously injured and detained in hospital and over a 100 were slightly injured. A large number of residents were made homeless and had to be found temporary accommodation or went to live with relatives.

The 5th October was a day of many air raid alerts starting from early morning. At around tea time a parachute bomb completely destroyed two houses at 90 and 92 Ordnance St. Many others were badly damaged.

92 Ordnance St. was a greengrocers shop. The owner, 34 year old Mrs. Sophia Cross would normally have closed her shop and sought shelter when the alarm siren sounded. As she had a customer, Mrs. Olive Dugard, she stayed open to serve her. The shop was completely destroyed and Mrs. Cross and her two children Sophia aged 12 and her son Reginald 9, together with Mrs Dugard were killed.

Mr. Reginald Cross was an auxiliary fireman and was on duty when the tragedy happened. After visiting the scene and learning of the death of his family he returned to duty, determined to carry on fighting the enemy.

At 90 Ordnance St. lived Mrs. Sarah Green. Her recently married daughter Doris Goodwin was visiting her mother and both were killed in the same incident.

Two other ladies Mrs Ellen Waters and Mrs. Winifred Strong were also killed.

But there were lives saved by the actions of others. 14 year old Florence Weston saved the lives of her young nephew and that of her neighbour’s baby by shielding them with her body from falling debris. Her action was later recognised.

Two months later on 14th. December 1940 a similar tragedy occurred in the area when heavy bombing completely destroyed several properties including a terrace of 5 houses.

The Thorne family lived at 26 Ordnance Street and James Thorne, his wife Amelia

9 and their 9 year old son James were killed instantly. Steven Foy was playing with James when the alarm sounded and Steven immediately ran to his home as his mother had told him. It saved his life.

Next door lived the Zedgitt family. Father Peter, mother Lilian and their 26 year old son Edward were all killed.

Four year old Alan Herbert of 20 Ordnance St sadly died after being buried under the remains of his home but his father, mother and baby brother were rescued and taken to hospital.

Another five people living in the terrace also tragically died.

Again there were acts of heroism. Benjamin Casson aged 18 protected his two nephews with his own body. Whilst they survived, Benjamin later sadly died of his injuries.

Lance Corporal Styles and Mr. Ronald Piper were uninjured and worked tirelessly to free people trapped in the cellars of their houses. Eventually they managed to rescue 6 people before being stopped because it became too dangerous. For their action they were both awarded the George Medal.

On 5th October 2014, after years of effort by Mr Steven Foy whose friend Reginald Thorne was killed during the “Chatham Blitz”, a memorial plaque with the names of all those killed, was placed near the scene of the devastation of 1940. The ceremony was attended by members of the Council together with many relatives of those who died or who experienced that dreadful time and is a fitting tribute to those who died.

10 Ordnance Street Memories by John Piper

We lived at 3 Watts Street (2nd turning on left going up Ordnance St) and my grandparents lived at 73 Ordnance Street.

My father Ronald Piper and a soldier who was lodging nearby rescued people who were buried in their cellars after the bomb (a landmine) was dropped in Ordnance Street on 14th December 1940. They burrowed through about 20 feet of debris bare handed and reached 3 people in the cellar and they then hacked through the cellar wall with whatever they could use and eventually made a small hole in the cellar. They crawled through and found more people who they manged to get out and save. My father was upset they were stopped going back in the tunnel as he thought he heard a dog barking, but he was told it was too dangerous to go back as a high risk of collapse. He was later presented with the “George Medal” by King George VI. My son has now got my dad’s “George Medal” and citation, but I got a copy of the citation made for myself and rest of my family.

11 Chatham Bombs by Peter Cook

Usually, when the siren sounded, Sophia Cross would immediately shut her greengrocery and usher her two children to the air raid shelter. But on the morning of October 5 1940 she decided to finish serving her customer.

Then the parachute mine dropped. The shop, at 92 Ordnance Street, was blown to bits. Sophia, 12­year old Sophie and nine­year old Reginald were instantly killed, as was the customer.

Her husband, Reg Cross, was on duty at the time. He had joined the Auxiliary Fire Service and arrived at the scene to find his family wiped out. His way of coping was to continue to serve, and despite his loss, was soon back on duty helping his community.

12 Eight people were killed by the bomb and three houses were wrecked. The explosion was witnessed by Reg Winning who had been watching Spitfires and Messerschmitts scrapping overhead. “I saw all the roof tiles and joists go up in the air,” he said.

But his sister Doris had a narrow escape. She was at friend’s house four doors away from the Cross’s shop. They must have gone into the cellar for safety. “All I can remember is the cellar door bouncing down the stairs,” she said years later. “Apart from that the house was untouched. But the shop was just a pile of debris.”

The aftermath of the bombing was also witnessed by Stephen Foy, who recalls seeing bodies wrapped in curtains, lying in the road. Stephen, who lived in Fort Pitt Street at the time, had a lucky escape when the second bomb hit Ordnance Street on December 14 1940.

He'd been asked to stay to tea by the parents of his friend Jimmy Thorn, with whom

13 he had just returned from the pictures. When the air raid warning sounded, he remembered his mother’s instruction that he should always return home when that happened.

Back in his own home he heard a massive explosion. “Our blackout curtain blew from the window into the fire and caught alight,” he said. “The back door flew off its hinges and hit my dad, who was a slinger at the Dockyard. The rest of us dived under the table. Ordnance Street was on fire. There were flames everywhere.”

The parachute mine had come down on the Thorn’s house, killing Jimmy, his mother Amy and father James. Next door lived the Zedgill family, Luthuanian refugees. Peter Zedgitt, 72, his wife Letitia, 61, and their son Edward, 26, were all killed. Another son, Peter, had been at a football match and was still out when the bomb fell.

Living in a house opposite was the Garrard family. Ruth Garrard was just preparing her son Derek for bed. “The mine completely destroyed the front of the house where my cot was,” said Derek many years later. “The cot was squashed up like a concertina. If the bomb had fallen a few minutes later, I wouldn’t be here.”

14 One of the most tragic deaths that evening was that of four­year old Alan Herbert, who lived with his family at Herbert’s the newsagents in Ordnance Street. His father had re­enforced the shop’s cellar as a bomb shelter, and as instructed by his mother, the little boy sought safety there when the siren sounded. His parents and baby Colin were to follow.

When the bomb fell the shop collapsed on top of them and a fire started. Mr Herbert was rescued quickly, but it was six hours before firemen could create a tunnel through which Mrs Herbert and Colin could be brought to safety. Tragically, the firemen used so much water to douse the fire that it filled the cellar and young Alan was drowned.

Fourteen people lost their lives in the December 14 bombing. Eight died in the October 5 attack. Dozens were injured and there was a colossal amount of damage to homes both in Ordnance and neighbouring streets.

15 16 Hometown Hero: The Secret Life of Roy E. Hardy, Esq. by Sylvia Swan, daughter of Roy Hardy, research carried out by Dr. Catharina Clement

From Chatham Dockyard to MI6, Roy Hardy Left No Rock Untapped

Seriously burned in WW2 by a Luftwaffe incendiary bomb while volunteering with Chatham Home Guard at age seventeen, hospitalized in Austria with a gunshot wound while serving as a Radio Operator with the British Army Royal Signals Unit on the Nazi ratlines, then possibly captured in Cairo as a radio operator with MI6, Roy Eugene Hardy, Esq led a life no man would envy. And most would not survive.

Roy Hardy was born in Chatham in 1923, the middle child of three; Irene was two years his senior and his baby brother David, an entire decade younger. The family lived modestly, on Beresford Road, almost on the boundary between Rochester and Chatham. Roy attended the newly built Temple Senior Boys School in Strood from 1937. Under the guidance of headmaster Mr. Featherstone, the young lad found maths, geography and physical training quite easy, loved scripture and enjoyed wood & metal shop work. As a boy, Roy would do odd jobs in his spare time to help the family, as Britain was still in recovery since the Great Depression.

The teen and his family belonged to the Church of England and attended St. Mary’s in Strood, where they knew the Vicar for many years. With the outbreak of war on Sept.1st 1939, the school was evacuated due to the bombing risk. Roy’s father, Walter served with the West Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War and was a firefighter in Kent during WW2. He worried about his son, with Roy barely over 7 stones in size, that he would not survive if called up to the front lines during the War. So Walter Hardy taught his son to box, and Roy subsequently joined a boxing team. Hence, the swollen nose in his next photo!

However, with the support of the Vicar and scout leader, in March 1940 as a Boy Scout, Roy was offered work at Chatham Dockyard.

17 Paul Croxston writes about the recruitment of young lads to undertake Morse code training in the Medway Towns:

‘A group of senior EWAs (Experimental Wireless Assistants) was… maintained at the Fort (Bridgewoods) as trainers and they undertook the training of many local schoolboys who were recruited for this secret work. (Colonel) Ellingworth was a churchwarden at St Mary's Strood where the vicar was the Rev. Donald Brand. Ellingworth put Brand to work as a recruiter for young men who were considered suitable for secret war work. Recruitment amongst Boy Scouts was particularly successful. Brand also provided initial accommodation for them whilst they underwent training as Experimental Wireless Assistants. Training took some three months and involved a daily grind of Morse code tuition. Weekly tests were administered by Albert Stevens who had been a chief instructor in the Royal Signals.’

In total, three dozen boy scouts who had demonstrated the necessary aptitude had undergone six months Morse code training, with the Vicar as instructor. By that time, young Roy had achieved a receiving/transcribing speed of 22 words per minute, and could recognize the geographical enemy call signs with the aid of direction finding, the ‘DF Hut’. Training also included recognition of the five­letter Enigma cyphers and rudimentary German translation.

Meanwhile, in May 1940 the Local Defence Volunteers were formed as the ‘last line of defence’ against German invasion, but in July the name was swiftly changed to the Home Guard by Winston Churchill. Applicants were required to have reached age 17 before joining up, but this was often overlooked as eager young lads wanted to serve their country in some capacity.

Roy was almost 17 when he signed up to volunteer with Chatham Home Guard. The Home Guard trained on the Great Lines was under the instruction of Col. Marshall J.W. Ellingworth in basic German phrases, combat, grenades and rifle training on British .303 assault weapons. The company commander was a past Rochester Mayor, Major Clive Anderson, a mentor Roy had great respect for.

Proudly wearing his Home Guard uniform and tin hat, Roy continued his nightly, three­hour shift with the bicycle brigade while employed as a wireless operator at Fort Bridgewoods. After their HG shift, searching for downed German airmen or enemy parachutes, on a Friday evening the Home Guard would either watch Charlie Chaplin silent films or celebrate at the Rose & Crown on Chatham High Street to play table tennis, sing love songs and dance with the ATS girls, who were also billeted at the Fort.

18 nd nd Fort Bridgewoods Home Guard with Roy Hardy 2 row, 2 left circled

Fort Bridgewoods was located on the edge of Blue Bell Hill village. Few of us know the World War II importance of the old Napoleonic fort built during the 19th century in Chatham. However, an intelligence researcher, Paul Croxson, has written up an intriguing account of its role in the war…

‘The Fort played several vital roles in the Enigma story, not least in the training of civilian intercept officers who, as civilians would form the backbone of the intercept service in the UK. These operators were of a standard unmatched anywhere at the time.’

‘A War Office Y-station had been based at Fort Bridgewoods since 1926, initially responsible to GC&CS (Government Code & Cypher School) and then, following its creation in 1938, to MI8… Although by then, nominally a Royal Signals establishment, from January 1935 the station was staffed by civilian operators commanded by Lieutenant Commander (ret’d) M J W Ellingworth RN, and responsible to GC&CS. The (wireless) station was the first to regularly intercept German wireless traffic recognised as being sent in the high-grade Enigma cipher and was, for a time, the mainstay for providing intercepted wireless traffic for the few codebreakers who would eventually end up at Bletchley Park.’

Croxson continues: ‘A hutted encampment was built in the woods adjacent to the fort to house the increase in operators, and also other buildings were built inside the fort to house the (female ATS) Teleprinter operators and other clerical staff.’

With this background to Fort Bridgewoods we return to Roy Hardy’s story. After being selected from the group of Morse qualified boy scouts, and after some interrogation as to his ability to keep secrets, Roy Hardy was offered an EWA job at Fort Bridgewoods. He had to sign the Official Secrets Act at age 17 and so started

19 Roy Hardy’s adventurous career in the world of military intelligence.

Roy’s job as an Experimental Wireless Assistant was to intercept enemy German Morse messages on receiving equipment and transcribe them to plain language, with pen and paper. From this point, learning the intricacies of the German Army, the Luftwaffe Morse procedures and format was imperative. The messages would have to be decrypted and translated from German language by the teen wireless operators before sent out for Enigma decoding. The motorcycle courier would arrive daily at different times to avoid detection. With his leather saddle bag in hand, the driver would pick up the top secret messages at the Fort and drive 92 miles to Bletchley Park, where they would be decoded by the infamous codebreakers on their pilfered German Enigma machine.

Roy started his new role on 3rd September 1940, his 17th Birthday, and ironically, the 1st Anniversary date by which Churchill declaring War with Germany. Frustrated by failure of the Luftwaffe against the superior British Spitfire fighter planes during the Battle of Britain, Hitler’s deputy and Nazi leader, Hermann Göring ordered his Luftwaffe pilots to drop their bombs during the dark hours of nightfall as well, ‘The Blitz’ as the night­time raids were referred to. Hence, the blackout laws went into effect, and the ARP patrol officers were knocking on doors and threatening households with 40s fines for even just a sliver of light peering through the cracks in the window blinds.

Everyone wanted to do their bit for the war effort. At seventeen, Roy Hardy was an EWA by day, Home Guard by night. Proudly displaying his ‘HG’ armband on his new uniform, after parade and gun cleaning inside the concourse area of the Fort, the boy and the HG platoon would strap on their gas mask bag in front of their uniform. With tin hats at their sides, they tossed their rifles over their shoulders before mounting their bicycles and cycling in the direction of the dockyard, two by two.

Yet, just over 6 weeks in his new uniform, on Day 100 of the Battle of Britain, Roy E. Hardy was seriously injured by the Luftwaffe air raid during the blitz … an incendiary bomb blast.

On the 17th October 1940 at 2142 hours a fire bomb made a direct hit on the bridge over the moat, where several vehicles were parked in front of the Fort at the shift changeover. It is estimated that 320 enemy aircraft operated over Britain’s coasts that day during the bright weather and with the wireless station so close to the dockyards, it was an easy target.

20 According to the local paper:

‘Three A.T.S girls who had just arrived on duty were killed by a bomb which fell in another part of the district, at the same time. The bomb fell near a lorry (at the Fort) which was burnt out and a soldier and civilian were also killed and, there were others injured.’ The Rochester Council war incident report (RCA Box 259) listed that three people were injured by this bomb (including Roy Hardy) and that a lorry had been ‘burnt out’.

Roy and his Home Guard partner were returning to the Fort on their bicycles for shift change and within ten yards of the lorry when the bomb exploded and set the vehicle ablaze. Luckily, with the completion of his training fresh in mind, Roy had the wherewithal to put on his gas mask, as incendiary bombs rob the area of oxygen and radiate carbon monoxide. So, if the molten magnesium burning through flesh and bone does not kill its victims, asphyxiation surely would.

Roy’s left upper leg was ablaze from pieces of the burning lorry flying in all directions. The molten magnesium of WW2 incendiary bombs was extremely difficult to extinguish, as water would most often spread the fire. And with nine of his comrades all burning around him whom he could not help, including the ATS girls Roy had danced with… in excruciating pain, the seventeen year old had to extinguish the deep flesh fire himself, with any dirt he could find.

It is believed this severe burn left Roy hospitalized and recuperating for nine or ten months, perhaps initially at St Bart’s Hospital, Rochester, before undergoing skin grafting surgery elsewhere.

With only four plastic surgeons in Britain in 1940, the majority of third degree limb burns were treated by Sir Harold Gillies, who would first utilize saline baths at 105degF for pain and infection reduction, since antibiotics were still quite new and not yet widely used. There would be at least ten skin graft surgeries and the limb would be encased in an oiled­silk envelope called a Bunyan bag. A splint would be worn day and night for stretching and lengthening the contracted scar tissue. Eventually, the splint time could be reduced to nights only, but this would go on for at least six months and up to two years.

The Home Guard always rode their bikes in pairs on patrol, and in the platoon photo I noticed eight HG lads (marked X) were in pairs as they stood beside their partners … they were returning to Fort Bridgewoods for the 10pm shift change when the Luftwaffe made a direct hit on the lorry in front of the Fort at 9:42pm. The incendiary, together with the explosive bomb killed: the lorry driver, a volunteer, 2 FANYs (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry), 3 ATS girls, as well as injuring 3 more.

21 So despite the request of Bletchley Park to keep intercept work at Fort Bridgewoods due to the clear quality of signals there, the location was too vulnerable, so close to the channel. The October 17th bombing tragedy proved it.

The surviving wireless ops became the ‘Special Y Group’ and relocated temporarily at a Y­Station further north, in Chicksands. During this time, Beaumanor Hall in Leicestershire was requisitioned by the War Office and being retrofitted with 14” concrete roofs, disguise perimeter buildings, a DF Hut, military dogs and ‘round the clock security on 350 acres. The ‘Special Y Group’ members eventually moved to Beaumanor in October 1941, the ‘WOYG’, their new secret listening station.

It was here that on 22nd November 1941 the rehabilitated Roy Hardy returned to his post of wireless interceptor a year after his incendiary burn injury. Besides all the amenities of a village, including recreation and sports, soccer and cricket, Beaumanor also had staff nurses who could attend to Roy’s night splinting of his leg during the lengthy healing process.

As the largest Y­station in the country, in addition to enemy messages there was also SOE and MI6 messages to send and receive, so non­stop excitement for a wireless operator … the ops were even the first to know when the War ended!

Roy found much inspiration to help him recover from the loss of so many of his mates at the Fort bombing. He even received, first­hand, the 1943 victory message from the Heavy Water War British saboteurs in Norway who destroyed Hitler’s atomic bomb production‘… operation carried out with 100% success, no shots fired!’ The Beaumanor pub was a full house that evening!

According to his ‘Royal Signals’ British Army records, the now certified Radio Operator Roy Hardy was transcribing, decrypting and translating enemy German messages until October, 1945 at Beaumanor Hall, well after the War ended. Roy could have easily stayed at Beaumanor with his chums for the next thirty years.

Roy Hardy, Radio Operator on duty

22 But by the time the War was over in 1945, Roy was barely twenty­two. And after four years working indoors, this Radio Operator was still pondering the impressive­ looking independent agents driving up to Beaumanor Hall in gleaming Rolls Royce cars, wearing camel coats. He overheard the undercover operatives came from British Intelligence, MI5. With ears and eyes open, Roy soon learned his own blonde hair, blue eyes, small stature and experience, four years translating German messages would become an asset. With further spy school training, unarmed combat practice and German verbal skills, he would make an ideal candidate to apply at Whitehall for work overseas, with MI6 … posing as a German!

L/Cpl Roy Eugene Hardy & BTA, 1946­48

After almost a year of intensive field training at Gordon Barracks in Scotland, among other locations, in 1946, L/Cpl Roy Eugene Hardy was recalled to the colours overseas during the Cold War, with Royal Corps of Signals, BTA, British Troops Austria. Now a Lance Corporal, Roy was the commanding officer of his unit, and second in command of the platoon. Royal Signals Intelligence, ‘SigInt’ platoon were first into action, setting up communications systems in Austria and Italy for arriving troops from Britain. After the execution of ten SS German Generals at the Nuremberg trials, in order to avoid arrest and execution, the Austria­ Italy ratlines became the escape route for 1000s of war criminals fleeing to South America via the Atlantic Crossing, out of Genoa. The Nazi sympathizers at the Italian monastery in Vipiteno would arrange fake passports, so the Nazis would be kissing the soil of their new home in Buenos Aries in no time.

23 These war criminals were trained killers and running for their lives however, and thought nothing of shooting anyone in their path, especially a radio operator who may be Morsing location information for allied troops to arrive and arrest them. On January 22nd 1948, L/Cpl R. E. Hardy was hospitalized for seven nights in Austria with a bullet injury to the lower right ribs. Upon discharge, and after a four­week follow­up there with BTA, he was sent home to Rochester for two months’ medical leave.

To learn the German verbal skills required for his MI6 application with the Admiralty, from 1948 – 1949 L/Cpl. Hardy worked at an agricultural POW camp, RAF Sutton Bridge, in Lincolnshire. Responding to soft interrogation techniques Roy learned while there, the German prisoners willingly traded favours, such as doors on toilets, lockable lockers, larger living quarters ... in exchange for military intelligence. This was quite easy work for Roy, since by the time they were released in 1949, the majority of the 250 POWs there were not going back to Germany anyway.

The editor of this story personally knows of several German POWs who married English women and settled here after the war. They later settled in the Midlands around Nottingham and Birmingham, so perhaps they were at the same German POW camp where L/Cpl. Hardy worked, in 1948.

Now, with five glowing references ready for the Admiralty at Whitehall, Roy Hardy disembarked for almost three years’ training operation at RNZAF New Zealand as a civil servant. Upon return, Mr. Hardy undertook specific under­cover training with Yeoman Adams for his next position, as a British Intelligence Agent. There, he was considered ‘Top of Class/33' at GCHQ ­ Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire ‘… fully operational in ninety days’.

Nov.1952 – Sept.1953: ROY EUGENE HARDY, ESQ. British Intelligence Officer, MI6 ­ Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea. Posing as a German, clad in civilian suits and striped ties, the civil servant carried a cyanide pill in his pocket for a way out … in the event of capture and torture. During his ten­month stay, Roy gathered Suez Canal military intelligence and distributed disinformation on the Egyptian government in seven of the most dangerous countries of North Africa & the Middle East. Sending a simple five­minute radio transmission was no small feat, since the antennae had to be quickly removed before daybreak and (codename) had to check out of his hotel by the back door, then hide his radio in the next hotel each and every day to avoid capture. During the 1952 Revolution in Cairo, many British spies were captured and threatened

24 execution by Nasser.

This Operation is now declassified, and at the time of this writing I am yet to learn if my father was captured and imprisoned for five months, along with other British spies.

Upon his return to London in 1953, Roy Eugene Hardy, Esq wasted no time in submitting his resignation to the Foreign Office, and upon immediate approval of emigrant status, a new career was arranged for him, and within a fortnight he had boarded the Empress of Australia out of Liverpool, the furthest British port from Cairo. Destination: Canada!

On September 22nd1953 Mr. Hardy, together with another gentleman of the same address and of similar age, Mr. Eric West, were bound for their new homes in Canada. And for Roy, to his new position as a Radio Operator with the Royal Canadian Air Force ... safe, at last!

Since Roy was not to find a Rolls Royce in Canada, his British dream car, his first paycheck as a Canadian radio operator went towards a 1950 Studebaker ‘Bulletnose’ … and a camel coat, of course!

MI6 Agent, Roy E. Hardy Esq with 1st car. RCAF Cpl R. E. Hardy & new son

While serving with RCAF Communication Squadron for two decades, the promoted Corporal Roy E. Hardy was married and (usually along with his growing family of five children) posted to Montreal, Hamilton, Clinton, Portage La Prairie, Churchill, Edmonton, Trenton, Jamaica, and Calgary. Upon his release from the

25 military and after a family vacation in England, Roy Hardy became an electrician with Atco Industries and finally, a bus driver for the City of Calgary, until his retirement in 1988.

After a 51­year marriage, my father passed away in Calgary in 2006, shortly after his 83rd Birthday celebration.

I ordered my late father’s government documentation and sorted through Dad’s documents he had kept locked in a steel truck for 60­odd years. As result during this past 12 months Roy E. Hardy Esq has received 4 posthumous awards from the UK. The most recent arrived on Canada Day 2020, from the GCHQ Government Code & Cypher School, signed by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson. I am hoping to yet receive two more medals on my Father’s behalf.

Due to the top­secret information Dad had knowledge of, he was required to sign the Official Secrets Act in 1940. So he was silent. We never knew our secret father … until now.

T.S. Eliot: “I shall not cease from exploration and at the end of my exploring will be to arrive where I started and know the place for the first time.”

Roy Eugene Hardy's name is posted on the Roll of Honour at Bletchley Park, Home of the Code Breakers. https://bletchleypark.org.uk/roll­of­honour/15414

Sylvia Swan

Posthumous awards received on behalf of Roy Eugene Hardy, Esq. in 2019/2020

26

27 28 The Chase, Chatham:A German plane crash 15th September 1940

At our society evening in September 2019 Steve Foy recorded his memories of several World War II incidents he recalled as a 10­year­old.

‘I was standing on my Grandmother’s shed on 15th September 1940 at 2.30pm when a Jerry aircraft Dornier 17 with a crew of 3 was endeavouring to get back to Germany. I assumed two had baled out and the pilot was still on board. On the ground they were firing Ack Ack at the plane. I then saw the pilot lower the undercarriage and almost come to a standstill (a stall), then it nose­dived down. It broke in half, the fuselage landed in the Garden and the tail end landed in the roof of the House at 13 The Chase, Chatham. Possibly the owner’s names were Christmas, but no one was killed in the house, although there is a possibility someone was injured in the air raid shelter in the Garden. Hundreds of people turned up to see and get pieces of the plane as a souvenir.’

On checking the Kent book of the Civilian War Dead, we find that there was indeed somebody injured in this incident. Ronald Ernest Seaborn, age 18, of 17 the Chase was admitted to St Bart’s Hospital, but died of his injuries on 21 November 1940. The incident was recorded in Newcomb’s Diary as ‘German bomber down on Central Park Estate’ on 15 September 1940. This estate was built just a year before war broke out and The Chase was one of the streets on the estate. It is located on the boundary between Rochester and Chatham above Fort Pitt Cemetery.

Clint Mitchell notes on http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archive/index.php?t­ 30011.html that:

‘A Dornier 17Z of 8/KG2, shot down by PO Innes of 253 Sqn, which crashed at The Chase, Chatham, on 15/9/40.

Crew:­

Pilot: Unteroffizier Josof Stampfer POW Observer: Oberleutnant Werner Kittmann POW W/T: Unteroffizier Paul Langer POW Kriegsberichter: Flieger Wolfgang Kohler POW

I have seen mentions of the crew landing in and around Walderslade with Wolfgang Kohler the Kriegsberichter landing as far away as Bredhurst. Kittmann the observer

29 mentions in Dr Alfred Price's, Battle of Britain Day that all of the crew bailed at the same time. Which causes a problem with regards to Kohler landing at Bredhurst and not in the vicinity of the rest of the crew. The aircraft still travelled quite some way on it's own to then crash at The Chase.’

Cyril Norman (Sandy) Le Gassick, an underage Home Guard volunteer at Blue Bell Hill, Chatham, recorded his memories with Radio Cleveland for the BBC World War II archive in 2005.

‘Perhaps a more rewarding experience for Sandy was the day a Dornier Bomber which had been involved in a raid on London was hit whilst returning to base and the pilot apparently realised that he would not make it back to his base and decided to land at Rochester Aerodrome. When approaching the aerodrome in a South­North direction it passed over the North Downs at Bluebell Hill at about 1500 feet. At this point it was fired on by a battery of AA guns sited at Burham and a large piece of the tail was blown off, (as well as extensive damage to the roofs of the village houses!) When this happened the Captain (it was later established) ordered the crew to bale out. Three of the crew appeared and glided to earth. Sandy had seen all this happen from the garden of his home so he slung his rifle over his shoulder, got on his (Army) bicycle and headed for where he thought one had landed; in woods on the road to Walderslade. Sandy was lucky that a local resident had seen exactly where the crewman came down in the woods. Sandy found him hanging from a tree, and the German immediately surrendered by throwing his pistol on the ground. Sandy then marched him down to the Police Station in Walderslade. This action was not without drama as the local residents expressed their anger at the German airman and the prisoner was very relieved to safely join the rest of the crew at the Police Station.

All of these accounts differ on who and where the crew baled out, but it must be remembered this story is being told 80 years later. Both eyewitnesses viewed events from different locations and were just boys at the time. Taken together we gain a picture about an event that has gone unrecorded locally. The only attempt to cover the plane crash was made by Andy Saunders in his 2014 book, Luftwaffe Bombers in the Battle of Britain: Rare Photographs From Wartime.

‘Although the success of Royal Artillery anti­aircraft batteries were generally somewhat limited, an exception to this rule was the claimed destruction of a Dornier 17­Z by 166 Battery of the 55th Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment, RA, on 15September 1940. However, and rather like the Heinkel shot down at Frittenden, it is more likely that in this instance they were a contributing factor rather than the direct cause of the bomber’s destruction. The aircraft, of 8./KG2, had been on a sortie to bomb

30 the London docks when it was attacked first by a Hurricane of 253 Squadron and then a Spitfire of 66 Squadron, as well as being engaged by the heavy guns of 166 Battery and so it is likely that all three played a part in its demise. Ultimately, and after all four crew had abandoned the doomed aircraft, it crashed onto a house at 13 The Chase, Chatham, Kent, shortly after three o’clock in the afternoon. Later the men from 166 Battery were photographed with a swastika, bedecked tail fin taken from the wreck of the Dornier as they posed in front of one of the battery guns.’

The 166th (City of Rochester) Anti­Aircraft Battery was stationed at Fort Clarence, Rochester in 1940.

166th Anti­Aircraft Battery after the incident holding up wreckage of the plane Image reproduced courtesy of Andy Saunders

31 The V1 Rainham railway incident on the 16th August 1944 by Paul Middleton

The V1 programme had been in development since 1939 and there had been some doubts about the project as some people felt that guidance technology was not advanced enough. They were designed with a range of 160 miles and the speed around 340 to 380 miles per hour. The V1 has had a number of alternative names such as doodlebug, buzz bombs, divers or flying bombs. We knew of their development which we tried to hamper by air attacks. They were launched initially from land bases but later on they were sometimes launched by aircraft. Land sites that were damaged could easily be repaired and were located in woodland often near centres of population.

When the V1 campaign started only 10 of the 55 sites had been completed. The launch date was brought forward to divert allied resources after the D­day invasion. We were not ready and improvements to our defences would come in the next few weeks.

The attacks started on the 12th June with ten, but only one reached its target which was London. The others fell outside London into farmland, the sea, a back garden or simply damaged the launch site. The Germans performance was to improve in the coming weeks.

The 14/15th June saw more V1 rockets coming and they could outpace aircraft except the Tempest 5 and the Mustang 3. New high performance aircraft such as the Meteor and the Spitfire 12 and 14 were about to be introduced. Other defences were barrage balloon’s and anti­aircraft guns.

On the 16th June Operation Crossbow which was the campaign against the flying bombs was introduced. Aircraft has to be airborne to be effective against the V1 which had a long bright flame and made a distinct noise. When the engine cut out the bomb fell to earth. The press censorship of the time can make it difficult to establish facts as to what happened. Different sources give different accounts of the event and what I have written I think is most likely to be the truth of the event.

Kent was hit by the campaign with nearly 1500 falling on Kent with 152 people killed and 1716 injured. On the 27th June a V1 landed at Newington and failed to explode giving valuable information to their construction. On the 22nd July one fell on the railway in the Ashford area but unlike the Rainham incident the pilot

32 managed to alert a train driver so he managed to stop the train in time.

The incident at Rainham occurred on the 16th August and it was played down in the press. It is reported as a railway accident rather than an event of war. We know that it was a V1 as shown by the report that John Malloy the pilot made.

At the time of the event anti­aircraft guns had been moved to the coast and the system had been updated with an analogue computer sighting and predictor system. Our record had been improved with bringing the bombs down to earth before they reached London and the battle against the V1 was going to be won in around 2 weeks’ time. On the 28th August only 7 out of 97 got through our defences. It had become difficult for the Germans to continue due to the advancing allied army in Europe. However the V1 and V2 were to be launched for several more months but on a smaller scale.

As this V1 had got through the air gun defence, the Canadian pilot from the RAF 274 squadron at West Malling had been chasing the V1 from Dover. As he had been unable to bring it down he tried a method called tipping. It involved flying his Hawker Tempest alongside the V1 and sliding a wing tip about 6 inches under the V1s wing. This would push the flying bombs wing up, override its navigational gyroscope and send it into a dive. This technique was widely used when a pilot ran out of ammunition or when there other options had failed. It was banned on the 24 th July but it was still widely used as shown by this event.

Unfortunately the bomb fell on Oak Lane Railway Bridge, Upchurch near Rainham and destroyed it. A railway worker was killed and the 15.35 Victoria to Margate train was unable to stop. The engine and tender managed to leap the gap but the front 2 coaches were badly damaged and as a result seven passengers were killed, 200 injured of which 18 were seriously hurt. The driver and the fireman survived the crash and the latter walked along the track to Newington signal box to alert them of the crash. Upchurch villagers helped in the aftermath of the incident. Burnt and Aylets, who were blacksmiths and wheelwrights in Newington High Street, was used as a mortuary. Rainham School in Orchard Street was used as a first aid post and a transport café near the bridge was used as a makeshift hospital.

A total of 34 people were taken to hospital. The majority went to St Barts Hospital in Rochester, but some were sent to the Naval Hospital in Gillingham and others to the County Hospital at Chatham. The naval hospital later became Medway Hospital and the County Hospital All Saints.

33 The bridge possibly a temporary one was rebuilt 3 days later and the pilot had a more successful outcome later in the day when he managed to tip another V1 into the sea near the Isle of Sheppey. Earlier in the day 17 people had been killed when a V1 landed on the High Street, Walthamstow in North London. Another V1 also landed near the Oak Lane site. This shows that the pilot may have saved lives by stopping the V1, but of course we will never know whether it was the case. The pilot John Malloy did not survive the war and was killed in January 1945 during a mission over Germany, which involved destroying enemy trains.

In conclusion we can see the incident occurred near the end of the V1 campaign. It was difficult for the Germans to continue with the allied advance in Europe. Techniques and equipment were improved despite the limited time span of the campaign and fewer were causing any significant damage. Unfortunately for us it diverted resources from mainland Europe, caused fear among the population leading to the evacuation of many people and many man hours were lost dealing with all the V1 incidents. This was at the time things were clearly not going well for the Germans and this campaign did little to change that.

34 Pobjoys & Short Brothers by Jean Lear

At 15.58 on Thursday 15th August 1940 parachute mines destroyed the Shorts hangars and Pobjoys factory at Rochester Airport. In total there were 18 aircraft involved in the aerial bombardment. Several Stirling bombers were damaged and caused the suspension of the further building of this aircraft at the factory till 1942.

‘Eighteen aircraft approached the airfield flying low in an arrowhead formation, opening their bomb doors as they did so. With no British fighters to deter them, the enemy had it all their own way. One by one they dropped their 100 lb bombs over the landing area and the factory buildings before pulling up and heading back for the coast.’

‘The devastation that followed set the production of the Stirling back a year. A direct hit on the inflammable Finished Parts Store did the most damage as the entire wooden area went up in flames. Most of the essential parts of the Stirling that were ready were lost as were many of the drawings and jigs. A black pall of smoke hung around the entire area together with the stench of burning paint as the stores began to blaze. The main roof of the factory where seven Stirling fuselages were in the course of completion had caved in destroying several of the aircraft instantly. Pieces of the aircraft lay everywhere together with metal splinters, wood, glass and the other debris associated with a bombing attack.’

Shorts hangar with bomb damage Courtesy of Medway Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society

35 ‘It was, however, the scale of the destruction at Rochester that shocked the factory workers as they crawled out from the shelters…All was not well, as some workers discovered the body of a man inside the Bell Shelter, a round metal structure built to house two or three men who were on guard duty at the factory entrance. At the time of the attack there were just two employees inside, with the other one being badly wounded. Apparently it had been ripped by pieces of red hot bomb casing that had pierced the entire shelter. This was, however, the only death, which was fairly remarkable considering the ferocity of the raid.’ The deceased was John Gordon Oakley from Dartford, a 28 year old aircraft carpenter rigger at Pobjoys.

Ewart Rayner, a 16 year old apprentice toolmaker at Pobjoys, was an eyewitness to events and recounted his experience in The News in 2010. “The next afternoon we were again in our shelters and­hearing lots of aircraft noise­ I looked out of the door and above were hundreds of German bombers. I hastily retreated to my seat in the shelter and moments later there was the sound of a large ‘crump’, rather than a bang.’

The News continued: ‘After the all­clear sounded, Mr Rayner and his colleagues walked back to their workplaces, passing a Bofors anti­aircraft gun just inside the airfield. But as he passed his sister Esme’s shelter, he noticed that a bomb had fallen between hers and the next shelter.

There was one casualty­a man who was fire­watching in one of the Short’s hangars from a steel dome with vision slits around it. One of the splinters from the bomb went through one of the slits killing him.

36 Plan of Shorts showing the location of all the bombs dropped on 15th August 1940 (Drawn by Jack Chinery on 23rd August 1940)

Extensive damage was caused to the Short’s buildings and the nearby Pobjoys Spitfire shop. Cars that had been parked on the road approaching the factory were all badly damaged­broken windows and flat tyres­except one baby Austin Seven, which emerged unscathed.’

Ewart Rayner concluded: “As a toolroom apprentice, I had to go with two of the skilled workmen to the badly damaged Spitfire shop to check the alignment of the Spitfire wing jigs and replace any damaged parts. Incredibly only one of the wings being made was completely lost. The others could be repaired.”

Despite accounts that the firefighter John Oakley was killed outright, he actually died of his injuries in St Bart’s Hospital the following day.

37 The Fallen Eagle by Odette Buchanan (From Broomhill ­ Strood’s Hidden Gem)

On the 30th September 1940, a plane crashed onto Broomhill, Strood. There were three major attacks on London that day with the loss of 47 enemy aircraft. A German fighter squadron usually had twelve planes. The Messerschmitt that crashed on Broomhill belonged to squadron Jg 53. That squadron lost four planes­a third of their complement­on that day.

A memory records: ‘One day, when I was about 11, a German plane came down in the allotments near our house in Broomhill. The pilot was unharmed and was apprehended by the police as he stepped out of the plane. They had to march him through the allotments and all the local women turned out with brooms and sticks ready to assist in case he escaped.’

Messerschmitt guarded at Broomhill after crash. Thanks to the Friends of Broomhill

A trawl through the local newspapers found a report of the actual incident that did not quite match the above memory and also contained inaccuracies. The crash happened on Monday, 30th September as the height of the battle. According to the paper, the plane was a Messerschmitt 109 and came out of the clouds very low. (it had already been hit by a British fighter). The ack­ack barrage caught it again. It banked, dived and eventually landed on a potato field. This same report stated the pilot ‘resorted to machine gunning, but no one was hurt.’ (This was standard

38 practice if one was going to crash­get rid of the bullets to avoid an explosion on landing. It had nothing to do with firing on anybody.) The field workers were incensed by this shooting and armed themselves with sticks and assumed a threatening attitude towards the pilot. Swift intervention from the police and military averted any attack on him. He was slightly injured and taken away in an ambulance. The report concludes with the information that the tail, fuselage and other parts of the machine were holed or damaged.

Another account refutes this­a Friend’s father told him that the Land Army girls had been strafed by machine gun fire earlier in the day and vented their anger on this pilot. Before the police or army arrived, a Scots Land Army girl fought them off and kept them at bay until the police arrived.

A fourth account is that a plane flew low overhead, a Friend’s father shot at it with his Lee Enfield rifle from the door of his Anderson shelter in the back garden of his house in Gordon Road. When the plane was inspected after it crashed, it was noticed that there were three bullet holes in it. The gentlemen went to his grave firmly convinced that he had shot it down.

Subsequently more versions have emerged: One person remembers his father (who was in the Home Guard and also worked at Shorts’ aircraft factory in Rochester during the war) telling him that as the plane came down it was firing at children. The women were incensed and would not let the ambulance onto the hill. The pilot, despite being injured, had to walk to it in Brompton Lane.

Another person recollects that the plane did a ‘pancake’ landing after flying low and when no one was watching, pinched one of the wing tips. They cut it in three­a piece each. Sadly, his piece was thrown away by his mother when he moved out. So there all these different versions of the same incident. So what really happened. Here is the pilot’s version told in 2008, aged 96. The curator of a small museum in Shoreham had been friendly with the pilot and was able to ask Unteroffizier Ernst Poschenrieder, the pilot about the incident.

From this information gathered we know that Ernst flew a Messerschmitt Bf 109E­1 werk Nr 5157 with 7/jg 53 (the German squadron number) based at Le Touquet­ Etaples airfield on Nord­pas­de­ Calais. It was a fighter squadron of Messerschmitts and its nick­name was Pik­As (Ace of Clubs) Geschwader. Ernst was not one of the

39 ace pilots but had been given this hastily repaired plane, which may account for it breaking up so easily on crashing.

On 30th September, the squadron was on bomber escort duty. The wing man had radio problems and had to turn back over the Channel. Ernst then became engaged with British fighters which damaged his plane and caused him to ditch on Broomhill. He remembers that as he brought down his plane ‘everything was being thrown at him’. One of the Land Army girls had a shotgun and was threatening his life. Sarah Kortwright, another Land Army girl, stepped in and protected him until the police arrived in the form of PC 28 Jack Matthews of Rochester Police, who happened to live nearby at 51 Brompton Lane.

Mitch Peake, Jack Matthews’ grandson, told me that Sarah was still on the aircraft’s buckled wing when Jack got there. He took control by formally arresting Ernst and then telling the mob that anyone trying to get at the pilot would be either obstructing a police officer or having to assault one. Suddenly the mob weren’t so keen and the pilot was carefully extracted from the cockpit.

Several Friends confirm how charming and handsome Ernst was. Some women, who were picking plums, filled their aprons with plums and set off to pelt the pilot with them. When they saw home handsome and charming he was, they offered him cups of tea instead!

Ernst beside his plane.

40 A copy of the official secret report that recorded locations and information of enemy aircraft brought down during 24 hours ended 6.00 on the 1st October 1940 noted: the pilot was taken prisoner, the crash occurred at 14.10 at map reference R.1788. A description of the plane and engine specification is included and stated ‘Aircraft said to have been hit by AA fire and later in fighter action. The pilot made a crashed landing and was wounded.’ Attached to this was a secret report by Squadron Leader Felkin who interviewed Ernst shortly after his capture. It confirms the pilot’s account told in 2008.

During the crashed landing Ernst sustained serious back injuries and was treated at the Naval Hospital at Gillingham and then became a prisoner of war; first in Oldham and later Canada. Many souvenirs of the crashed plane parts etc ended up as trophies for local boys.

A sequel to the story occurred in 1955 when Ernst returned to Strood on a sentimental journey to identify the location of the crash site and find the pretty young Land Army girl, Sarah, who had shown him so much kindness. The taxi driver knew the site and took him straight there. Sarah had been billeted with the Main family at Broomhill Road and with some networking Ernst was put in touch with her in Scotland where he presented her with a large bouquet and took her out to dinner.

41 Grafton Avenue Wartime Memories by Hilda Carter

It was November 1944 towards the end of the war, and we thought we were lucky having lived in Grafton Avenue all through the bombing, with the blackout shutters on the windows and an indoor shelter. I had just put Janice age two and a half to bed upstairs, I used to pin her into a blanket to keep her warm. About two hours later about eight o'clock this dreadful whining noise started and we knew when the noise stopped it would explode, we had just reached the bedroom window and we could see it getting nearer and nearer and suddenly it took our roof right off and landed on the house on the opposite of the road.

I don't remember much after that, but when we regained our senses we were sitting amongst the rafters of the dining room and the bedroom floor, the cot had disappeared. Crawling along the rafters my husband lowered his arm down through the gaping hole where the cot had been and managed to get hold of the blanket, he pulled it up and Janice was still pinned in it unharmed.

Grafton Avenue bombed out in 1944 from the War & Peace Collection

Another doodlebug came over while we were waiting to be rescued, I think it landed near Borstal. Being rescued took hours it seemed, but at last a ladder was put against the back wall and we managed to get down, and as I was seven months pregnant it was not easy. Eight people were killed that night and we lost everything. The shelter

42 had we been in it was upside down deep in rubble. After about eighteen months we were given the the show house prefab in Warren Wood Estate where we lived for ten years.

Two unusual happenings were a complete set of Janice's clothes i.e. hat, coat and leggings still on the coat hanger hanging on the apple tree in the garden, and a glass cabinet complete with a tea service undamaged.

I was given an American layette for the unborn baby, and Janice wore boy's clothes for a few days given to me by a lady who lived next door to my mother in law until we collected enough clothes coupons for new utility clothes.

Roll of Honour in St Stephen's Church.

43 Grafton Avenue. Denis & Betty King’s account (by Peter Cook)

Among the rescue workers desperately scrabbling in the wreckage of 5 Grafton Avenue, Rochester, was a small black mongrel called Mick. The men kept chasing him away. Then someone blew a whistle for silence and a voice was heard, right under where Mick had been digging. It was his mistress.

“I was 10 when the doodlebug fell on Grafton Avenue,” said Dennis King. “It was early evening November 8, 1944. There was a light in the sky. My father shouted, ‘get down!’.

“My brother and I flopped onto the lawn. Then everything went quiet. I saw my sister, Betty, blown off her feet and splattered (thrown) against the fence.

The curtains were billowing out of our house, number 33, and the slates cascaded off the roof. “I was 16 at the time,” said Betty Shaban (formerly King). “My mother had gone down to number five, where her close friend, Alice Smith, lived. She had two little boys but lost her husband when HMS Devonshire went down.

“We heard the flying bomb. Then the engine stopped. My father thought my mother would be alright as Mrs Smith had a shelter. We were half way across the lawn heading for our shelter when there was this almighty crash and dust everywhere.

“My father ran off to find my mother. Of course, we ran after him. Half the road was rubble.

“When the air­raid siren sounded, my mother had said to Mrs Smith: ‘You go down the shelter, I am going home.” “She opened the front door,” said Dennis, “and bang – she found herself blown back into the cupboard under the stairs. She had a few minor injuries and was in hospital for a while”.

“I had a friend who lived opposite Mrs Smith at number six,” said Elizabeth. “She was out when the doodlebug exploded, but her mother, father and sister had just returned from the cinema. The bomb landed on their house. They all died.”

The Grafton Avenue doodlebug killed eight people, and seriously injured 17. It demolished 14 houses and damaged 575. It was one of thousands that fell on Kent.

44 Attack on Station Road, Strood on the 2nd March 1944 by Paul Middleton

The attack was part of Operation Steinbock which was a strategic bombing campaign by the German air force. It is sometimes called the Baby Blitz which targeted southern England and lasted from January to May 1944. Steinbock was the last strategic air offensive by the German bomber command during the conflict. The allies were conducting a bombing campaign day and night against German industrial cities and the campaign was ordered by Adolf Hitler to provide propaganda to the German public. A total of 474 bomber aircraft were involved and was aimed mainly at London and the surrounding area. The operation was abandoned after 329 aircraft were lost. That is an average of 77 per month and was quite significant as it reduced the ability for the Luftwaffe to launch significant counter­attacks on D­Day.

When the attack took place at Strood the Germans had struggled to get aircraft fit for the operations that had been planned that night against the south east. German propaganda claimed that 164 crews had taken part and 131 had hit their target area. The real total is likely to be around 70 and in the case of Strood it is likely that the purpose of the attack was the railway line and not the houses in Station Road and therefore the bombs had missed their target. The trains were certainly running London bound the following day as Molly Regan, aged 19, was a passenger and said that she would definitely be using Anderson shelters in the future as she could see the damage through the train window. She had remained in her bedroom the previous night which was in Gillingham and had ignored the pleas of her mother and father to use the shelter in the back garden. Victoria Station, London was another target that night and I am not sure whether the station was damaged in the raid. What is interesting it that the Luftwaffe said it had lost 8 aircraft while fighter command said that a total of 7 enemy aircraft had been damaged or destroyed during that night’s raids. The Germans said they had lost more than us and not the other way round!

The raid that night had caused significant damage to parts of London and of course Strood where 300 people were left homeless. The following days there was a reduction in the scale of operations but there was going to be another attack on the 14/15 March when little damage was done but one notable casualty was Muriel Wright who was the girlfriend of Ian Fleming the novelist.

The attack on Strood on the 2nd March 1944 resulted in the houses at 35 ­40 Station Road being demolished. In addition a terrace of 6 houses was wrecked in Grove

45 Road on the corner of Station Road. It was the worst attack in the Strood area during the Second World War. The exact number killed seems to vary in reports but we definitely know it was at least 17. There are reports that it was 18. Around 1000 buildings were damaged including 74 shops, a church, two schools and several public houses.

Bomb damage in Station Road, Strood

At this stage of the war many people had become relaxed about sleeping in the comfort of their homes. This had increased the number of casualties as people were not using the Anderson shelters. Mr and Mrs Bevan and their son Ronald who did use their shelter were rescued two hours after the event as the exit to their shelter was jammed due to tons of rubble. The following people were killed and would seem to have been in their houses rather than the shelter at the time in most or all cases. The surname is given first followed by their Christian name.

Ansell Emma Mary age 75 36 Station Road Ansell Frederick William age 68 36 Station Road Barnes Jean Francis age 5 40 Station Road Blackman Julia Mary age 73 3 Goodyards Cottage Canal Road Blyth Alice Maud age 54 40 Station Road Byrne Thomas age 49 37 Station Road Blyth Mary age 20 40 Station Road Chapman Gordon Sydney age 4 months 40 Station Road Cogger Ernest age 65 37 Station Road

46 Hyland Edwin William age 58 35 Station Road Hyland Mary age 58 35 Station Road Willard Ellen age 62 37 Station Road Winter Irene age 6 32 Station Road Winter Elizabeth age 31 32 Station Road Winter June age 9 32 Station Road Woodward Leonard George age 37 39 Station Road Evenden Eliza age 56 Albert Place Strood

This gives a total of 17 people who died in the incident. In addition 6 people were treated in hospital and another 24 received minor injuries.

47 Wickham Street, Rochester by Jean Lear

In the early hours of 8th April 1941 a parachute landmine was dropped over the area of lower Delce with the junction of Cecil and Onslow Road. Seven people were killed and many more injured. Many of the houses were either flattened or too badly damaged to be repaired.

The Chatham Observer reported the incident, but not location. However local people knew where it occurred. Members of the AFS were quickly on the scene and helped people to safety as well as salvaging possessions.

Mrs D Dunlevy of Wickham Street: ‘Hitler has bombed us out of our home, but he hasn’t got our spirits down.’ She and her three children were in bed and although covered in debris were unhurt.

Mr G F Adnum got his wife and children out of bed to go to the Anderson shelter in the garden when the bombs started to fall. As his son John, aged 13, opened the back door a bomb landed 50 yards away, blowing off the door. Whilst he, his wife and two younger children were unharmed, John was struck about the head and face. He was taken to hospital and operated on and eventually recovered. Their house was badly damaged, but the contents remained largely intact.

John Dedrick recollected: ‘There was a ton of stuff on top of me, but I managed to get clear and down the stairs.’ He escaped with a minor injury to his leg. Mrs A Day, who ran the grocery shop on the corner, carried on business as usual despite a broken shop window.

Mr W Bird and his extended family had ‘the house all coming down round them’, but escaped largely unscathed. However his daughter Mrs Sheppard received a wound to the face, but was more concerned about her cat. Mrs Barnes just missed being hit by a lump of masonry and the upstairs ceiling collapsed, but they were all unhurt.

Boxer Reg Palmer and his family were asleep in bed. They rushed with their children to the shelter and were safe.

48 Mr E Nicholas found the house collapsing round him with his wife and granddaughter buried under rubble in their bed. He got them out through the front room window.

Mr & Mrs Hains heard a terrific bang and thought the whole bungalow had come down. They scrambled out unharmed, but the canary’s cage was in smithereens. The canary was fine.

Mrs Phillips also told of the miraculous escape of her pets; a cat, dog and parrot.

Mr Fielder escaped in his pyjamas and their dog was thrown across the room by the blast.

The ARP warden Mr King said: ‘I rushed out and got people under cover. They were simply marvellous. There was no sign of a panic and no screaming or shouting. They took it calmly, and very soon were sweeping up the broken glass and debris.’

49 In June 1971 Olive Nunn (aged 18 in 1941) gave her memories of the incident in an Evening Post newspaper article entitled ‘My night of horror’.

‘In the very early hours of Tuesday morning, April 8, a land mine was dropped from an enemy plane and floated silently down on the parachute towards Rochester. It brought death and destruction to Amherst Road and Wickham Street, as well as the surrounding houses. My mother, brother, sister and myself were in the house. For once we hadn’t slept in the air­raid shelter, but came downstairs about 2am, when the siren sounded at the beginning of the air­raid. After some time the enemy aircraft had gone and the guns stopped firing, lulling us into a false sense of security. We were about to return to our beds when suddenly time stood still for us. One second we were in a neat homely living room, the next we were plunged in darkness surrounded by rubble and debris. The land­mine had struck a wall only a few yards away from the bottom of our garden and the explosion destroyed houses in Amherst Road and Wickham Street.

Our first thought was to get out into the garden. I groped for my 16­year­old sister’s hand. She was saying “I can’t see. I can’t see.” With the thoughtlessness of my 18 years I said “Neither can I, but come on.” I couldn’t see very much, but my poor sister could not see at all at that time. Later we found she had lost the sight of one eye completely and the other was badly damaged. When we did get into the back garden after stumbling over debris that had once been the walls of the house I remember that the moon was shining brightly. But we didn’t need the moon to light the scene confronting us.

Down below in Wickham Street huge flames were shooting up from the ruins of the houses, into the sky. Fireman, RP and ambulance workers were all round. Our childhood friend, George, from two doors away helped us down to the first­aid post. My sister and I were dressed only in pyjamas, our coats which we had been wearing ready to go to the dug­out if necessary, had been blown off us. So had one of my slippers. George wrapped a piece of soft material round my foot which he picked up from the garden, but it kept slipping off.

Later we found it was a piece of parachute that carried the land­mine. I remember I kept asking a group of young ARP helpers “Have you got slippers sixe six please or a shoe will do?” They stared at me in silence­I must have looked mad covered in blood and soot and plaster, asking for a slipper in all that confusion and destruction.

50 My sister was taken into the tender care of ambulance workers at the First Aid Post, before being taken to hospital. Two little children were lying there swathed in bandages waiting for the ambulance. These little ones died later that tragic night.’

Ivy Chidley told Medway Memories about her experience aged 23. She lived at 55 Wickham Street with her mother and remembered: ‘the bombs dropped only five minutes after the sirens sounded, while she was helping her sick mother to the shelter. The house caved in around them, but both women managed to get out on to the street, where an ARP warden came to help. They were never able to return to their home because it was too damaged.

Ivy said she knew Joyce Foreman (one of the fatalities), whom she described as a quiet girl, one of five children. Her brother had been on the floor next to her when the bomb hit and both were killed. Two other children­a boy and a girl­had been sent to Wales (as evacuees) to avoid the bombing on the Medway towns.’

51 Hawthorn Road, Strood bombings: An account of memories and brave acts collected by Len Feist and Catharina Clement

BBC Archive memories 2005 Eva recalls: We had a shelter in the garden and I remember quite clearly. In our road (Hawthorn Road, Strood) a bomb dropped and there was a fatality across the road. The other person fortunately was out at the time. The other lady was under the table with her little girl and it was that table that saved their lives. It was an experience I shall never forget, very very frightening.

SW recollects: We had one (bomb) at the top of Hawthorn Road. I don’t remember how many houses. I remember seeing the devastation. There were a lot of houses on both sides of the road. They exploded the gas main as well up there so that added to the damage. My friend and myself wandered around picking up personal belongings of other people and not seeing any harm in it. Picking up other people’s property. Thinking we had come across a goldmine and we got told off by some passers­by and reminded that people were dead and this was their property. We didn’t think anything of it at the time. That was the attitude you take up when you’re in the middle of it.

Our Newcomb diary records two incidents at Hawthorn Road in Strood. One on 11 November 1940 and a second on 19 February 1944 when there were ‘some fatal casualties.

The City of Rochester incidents’ report mentions both bombings:­ Nov 11 1940 17 High Explosives Strood. Houses and gas main damaged (see SW memories) Casualties 2 fatal, 3 injures

Feb 18 1944 Parachute mine Strood. 16 houses demolished, 153 damaged. Casualties 3 fatal, 32 injured.

Civilian War Dead In 1944 Nellie May Parkin and her baby daughter Janet May were killed at 121 Hawthorn Road as well as their neighbour at no 123, Doris Adelaide King. A couple, David and Lilian Puttock of 53 Hawthorn Road died in the 1940 attack.

52 Recollections by John Kempster, a society member, of the 1944 incident Bomb dropped on 4 houses in Hawthorn Road, Strood. I was witness to this after I came out of the air raid shelter at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. These houses were blown out, but a most miraculous event as the blast blew a young boy by name of Haynes upwards and he landed on the roof of the next remaining house. Myself, Mr Pettitt and Alf Cook then saw the boy and Alf Cook got a ladder and helped the lad down. He was found to suffer a great shock and bruises. So this one apart from the house had a happy ending.

53 Chatham Observer 17 November 1940

Two killed on Monday A man and his wife were killed when a large number of high explosive bombs fell on a working class district of this area again on Monday evening. They were Mr David Isaac and Mrs Lilian Puttock. Three houses were demolished and a number extensively damaged. There were only three other minor injuries, one of which was to a five­month’s old baby. A man using a telephone kiosk had a remarkable escape. A bomb fell outside, jamming the door of the kiosk, and shattering the glass windows. When rescued the man was found to have escaped with nothing worse than a cut on the arm. He was placed in a police car with a view to his being taken to a first aid post for treatment for the injury. Later, however, the injured man was found to have disappeared and it is presumed that he thought so little of his injury that he went home.

Chatham Observer 25 February 1944

Bomb kills mother and baby on council estate A small number of people were killed, including a mother and her 18 months old baby, when a council estate (Darnley estate) in an S.E town in the raid­ early on Saturday morning was bombed. The dead woman was Mrs Nellie May Parkin, aged 33, whose husband is serving in the army in Italy. Another killed was a neighbour, Mrs Doris King, aged 38, who had gone to keep Mrs Parkin company. It was not until some hours after the raid that the bodies of the dead were recovered. A number of people were injured, seven seriously.

Boy blown onto roof There were curious happenings at the home of Mr F C Haynes, who was at Dunkirk with the RASC, has been four times wounded, and has just been discharged from the Army. Mr and Mrs Haynes, a grown­up son, another son, age 5, were in the bedroom when a bomb fell. As the roof collapsed, the smaller boy was blown upwards on to the top of it, and was rescued under difficult conditions by his elder brother.

Mr A Cook, ARP warden, was praised for his actions in saving the Haynes family. Their dog Trixie was rescued the following morning with her six pups from under the debris.

54 Gillingham Raids of 26­28th August 1940 by Catharina Clement

At this late stage I feel compelled to add something to our magazine about the impact the Blitz had on Gillingham. It would be fair to state that the town endured some of the earliest and most devastating air raids of all the Medway Towns. Between the 26th and 28th August 1940 a large contingent of high explosive bombs were dropped over Gillingham. The likely target was the dockyard, but the bombs went astray by at least a mile. Over the two nights of bombing sixteen lost their lives and a further three were to later die of their injuries (one man as late as 1946). The area of devastation was quite widespread. Bombs landed on Nelson Road and the bus station, which was completely burnt out. Nearby roads were also affected, especially Beresford Road. There were casualties in Beatty and Carlton Avenue on 27th August. Stafford Street and Jeyes Road were also targets as was the corner of Byron Road and Shakespeare Road where the Co­op store took a direct hit. A public shelter on Rock Avenue remained untouched even though several shops nearby were wrecked.

Reproduced with permission of M&D and East Kent Bus Club Our local press had little to say of these events, but it was not, as some people believe, due to war censorship or a news blackout on war damage. Only two months later the same newspapers were interviewing local residents and victims after a bad raid, naming them in the press. The Chatham Observer merely reported on 31st August: ‘A large bus depot in the South Eastern area received a direct hit with high explosive and incendiary bombs. Although 50 buses were destroyed, 70 were saved by the prompt action of the staff who removed them from the depot. Amid the smouldering ruins stood a notice that said “No Smoking”’. If the intent had been to not reveal the location, it is mystifying why they included a photo just above the story showing and naming the incident at Rock Avenue, Gillingham.

55 H A Burrows, the Depot Engineer at Gillingham, gave his experiences for the book Hell’s Corner by H Boorman. ‘It was about 11.30 at night when the fun began, and, with Tilley, I set out from home for the depot. Two “screamers” came down as we passed Jezreel’s Tower, and we dropped down pretty quick into the gutter for shelter.’ From here Fitter Cook relates the story. ‘I was on duty at the time and was just filling up the last car to come in with petrol when I heard a terrific crash and knew the garage had been hit…Well, I telephoned to Supt. Pettican, then returned to give directions for the cars to be rescued. This was not easy, for H.E.’s had come down on us as well as incendiaries…They went into the fire and drove the buses out; if any one of them would not start, we started the bus behind it and bumped it out.’ The account reported that a sailor, Leading Signalman Joseph Cheek, helped to get some of the buses out, but due to his inexperience crashed a bus into a telephone kiosk. ‘Then we had a roll call and found three men were missing. I heard they were in the messroom at the time. So I got the firemen to damp down the flames and to make a passage way for me to where the room was. In the tangled wreckage and steam we found them, but they had been killed instantly by the blast.’ Cyril Cate (Bygone Kent, August 1995) wrote in the diary of events he kept during the war: ‘At 12 o’clock awakened by salvo of bombs which fell on Maidstone & District bus depot. Saw it go up in flames. All clear at 1.40am on Wednesday. Also during the raid bombs destroyed houses in Fourth Avenue, Alexandra Avenue, part of Canada House, Hewarts drapery in Canterbury Street, large Co­op stores in Byron Road, raid shelter in Canterbury Street.’

Reproduced with permission of M&D and East Kent Bus Club

56 Julie Gilham recorded for the BBC World War II archive in 2005: ‘My most frightening experience of the war was the night that the Germans bombed the Bus Depot in Nelson Road, Gillingham, (27/28 August,1940). I lived at home close by in Trafalgar Street. The warning went off just as I was saying “Goodnight” to my young man Ernest. We realized that the rubber tyres on the buses were all ablaze. Four men were killed doing night duty. The night sky was lit up and the Ack­Ack guns were firing for a long while. They tried to save the buses, but 60 buses were lost that night. We tried to help but it was too hot. Eventually the all­ clear warning went off.’

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Message from our former President, Brian Joyce I was associated with the production of the Medway Chronicle from its first issue in late 2009. This latest special edition is the most impressive so far. What a reflection on the commitment and hard work of the writers and compilers! Magazines such as this don’t magically put themselves together. Our thanks go to the editor and all the contributors.

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The Editor always has the last word This edition of the Medway Chronicle primarily relates to events that occurred about a year after the start of World War 2, and is published about a year after start of the global pandemic caused by COVID­19. At both these times people's lives had changed and everyone wondered when normality could return. Let's hope that this time our victory arrives much sooner, and, speaking as a member of Chatham Historical Society, our monthly meetings resume.

And finally, thank you to everyone who contributed to this magazine, and our thoughts are with all those who made the history that we are retelling here.

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