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Two WAAF’s, Cpl Josephine Robins and Sgt Jean Youle were
awarded the Military Medal for courage shown during the attack.
Despite a direct hit on the base’s telephone exchange, Youle
stayed at her post to keep open the communications.
The base was hit again on August 30, 31 and September 1.
In the first of these, the runway and oil tanks were hit,
putting the airfield out of action for 15 hours. The runway
was again disabled on September 1 but no one was killed
during these attacks because of improved communications
and early warnings. Detling Bunker

Changes
A decoy airfield was built at Lenham in 1940 to deflect the bombing of Detling and Maidstone. The site
consisted of a replica airfield equipped with dummy Blenheim aircraft until June 27, 1941. It continued
to function as a night-time decoy until 1942 with a series of lights that resembled an active airfield when
seen from above.

In August 1941, 500 Squadron moved to Bircham Newton, Norfolk. Detling became the home for 280
Air Sea Rescue, then a temporary base for Mustang fighter escorts. For several months, in 1943, Detling
became a training base for the Polish crews of 318 Squadron flying Hurricane fighters.

Subsequently, squadrons of Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs were based there as large fighter units
attacked enemy positions on the Continent. Late in 1943, it became 125 Airfield, led by Wing Cdr R D
Rule, with three squadrons, 132, 184 and 602, responsible for escorting bombers to their targets and
attacking V1 rocket launch sites.

Oak Lane Tragedy
The havoc wreaked by V1 flying bombs (known as doodlebugs) led to Detling pilots being ordered to in-
tercept them by shooting or diving close to them – the aircraft’s turbulence causing the rocket to tilt and
crash. It was dangerous work and one incident over Newington and Upchurch – researched by Richard
Emmett, of HRGS and Newington History Group (NHG) – had unfortunate consequences.

On August 16, 1944, Canadian pilot F/L John Malloy, of 274 Squadron, flying a Hawker Tempest V fighter
based at West Malling, chased a V1 heading for London. He tried to shoot it down. When that failed, he
successfully flipped it with his wing. By chance, rather than coming down harmlessly in a field, the bomb
exploded at the railway bridge in Oak Lane, Upchurch, just as a Sittingbourne-bound passenger train
was about to cross.
The first carriages jumped the gap as the train crashed. Nine people were killed, including Service
personnel, and 200 injured, 18 seriously. Soldiers from the crowded train helped in the rescue, as did
people from the nearby communities.

Ending of the war
Squadrons from Detling supported the D-Day landings in June 1944 by attacking bases in Normandy.

Detling’s final major operation came in September 1944 when aircraft were detailed to escort gliders and
Dakotas carrying paratroopers to Arnhem, Holland, during Operation Market Garden. The mission was
detailed in the book and film, A Bridge Too Far.

Research by Dean Coles, of NHG, has revealed that F/O (Pilot) Derek Wallace Edwards, the son of
Lorenzo and Ellen Edwards, of Newington, died on March 24, 1945, aged 21. He was a glider pilot who
lost his life while landing during Operation Varsity, an assault to cross the Rhine and the biggest airlift
of men during the war. It was only months before the war ended and he is buried in Reichswald Forest
War Cemetery.

The Detling base closed on April 1, 1956, and the airfield became popular for recreational gliding until
it closed in 1959. It was also used by Swale Motor Racing Club. Now it’s the Aerodrome Business Estate
and the Kent Showground. The estate is where the main airfield buildings were situated, and its ap-
proach road from the A249 was the airfield’s entrance.