View Full Version : Dornier 217 low level bombing of Tonbridge railway lines
Centaurus
29th Dec 2008, 11:10
Around 1943 a Dornier 217 flew low along the Tonbridge, Kent, railway junction and dropped several bombs. No one was hurt. I think a few were duds but not sure. I had a good view of the attack from Deakin Leas. My guess now was he was at 1500 feet or lower and I think one of its gunners had a spray around as well. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about the incident or where I could find out more.
There were a very large number of attacks by lone raiders on that section of railway line. As any of the pre-war pilots flying visual from the coast to Croydon could tell you, the railway is arrow-straight all the way from Ashford to Redhill, and a very easy target from the air, just look along it for a cloud of steam.
Hamilton Ellis, a well-known railway book author of the 1940s-60s, had a comparable experience north of Tonbridge one day, and described the train being machine-gunned just as it entered the long tunnel under the North Downs, whereupon it put its brakes on sharpish and came to a stand inside.
Not QUITE sure how we got from Tonbridge railway to Chidham, Centaurus, but if you do zoom in on the Chidham area you will see the blue plaque on the house where I were born. Luckily they missed that too.