Today is 70 years since the last battle to take place on British mainland soil

The Battle of Graveney Marsh happened when a Junkers 88 bomber crash-landed after being attacked by two RAF Spitfire fighter planes. One of the bomber’s engines had already been knocked out by anti-aircraft fire when the second was put out of action by the Spitfires. The pilot was forced to land on Graveney Marsh in Kent. The crash was seen by members of the London Irish Rifles’ who were 'holed up' in the Sportsman Inn in Seasalter, a hamlet near Whitstable, and they were dispatched to the downed bomber. They expected the four-strong Luftwaffe crew to give themselves up without a fight but as they approached the aircraft the Germans opened fire with the aircraft’s two machine guns. Some of the British servicemen dived to the ground and returned fire, whilst another group crawled along a dyke to get within 50 yards of the plane before they started shooting. The Germans soon surrendered and the battle was over with few injuries and no deaths.


For more on this little known battle take a look at Time Gun or The Telegraph.