Forgotten frontline exhibition: How Luftwaffe air crew fought on Kent marshes

The Luftwaffe bomber was in trouble. The Junkers 88 had delivered 4,000lb bombs to London but then it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Then Spitfires and Hurricanes pounced, but they didn't seek to destroy the Nazi plane. The pilots from 66 and 92 squadrons saw that this was Junkers 88 - only two weeks old model and fitted with a secret new bombsight. Earlier an order had gone out to all units to capture Junkers 88, intact. The German pilot Fritz Ruhlandt made a forced landing on the Kent marshes. The Luftwaffe crew, armed with two machine guns, opened fire towards soldiers from the 1st London Irish Rifles - resulting the only WWII battle on the British mainland.

Forgotten frontline exhibition tells how Luftwaffe fought with soldiers on Kent marshes

 

"Grabbed their rifles and ran out of the pub"............. great story!

 

Some things never change!

 

jonesy saying to captain mainwarring springs to mind!they dont like it up em!!

 

Great stuff PzJgr!

 

What a great story.

 

fantastic story , thanks for posting PzJgr

 

The civilized way to fight a war!

 

irish heritage... drinking and looking for a fight..overestimation i know.. but its the blarney..great story.

 

and so was the life of the home guard!

 

Nice story, those Germans certainly put up a fight!

 

Great article.

 

Great story. Are the 1st London Irish Rifles still around or had they been disbanded over the post-war decades with defence cuts, regiment reorganisation/s, and the rest?

 

good story man