Dornier 217 attack on Tonbridge railway Junction circa 1943
 

In my dotage I have wondered about two specific scenes that have stuck in my mind and wondered if any Pprune readers might have further details on the following events during WW2.

Walking along Pembury Road, Tonbridge in Kent circa 1943, the siren had sounded (which as school-boys we usually shrugged off) and we saw a Dornier 217 approaching at about 800 feet from the direction of the London line, then it turned left sharply to follow the railway line out of Tonbridge and laid several bombs in a row along the railway lines at Tonbridge. We saw several bombs released. I recall machine gun fire but whether from the ground (very doubtful) or the Dornier I don't know. Later heard that a couple of bombs failed to explode.

Second incident circa 1944 a V1 Doodle Bug scorching over Tonbridge at 1500 feet heading in the general direction of London. I was positioned on Deakin Leas which is a road up a hill with an excellent view over Tonbridge. An RAF Tempest was behind the V1 and fired at it. There was a huge explosion as the V1 blew up and I was amazed to see the Tempest had no hope of avoiding the explosion but seemed to fly right through it with no noticeable damage. I don't know about the shrapnel from the V1 which dropped on the town centre.

Would appreciate what records (if any) would be available to read all about these two events?

If I can find it, J I will get Roland 'Bea' Beamont's book in which - I think - he relates to an incident concerning flying through the blast of the bomb's wake, and I rather think it was over Tonbridge.


He told me in April 2004 that after flying through the blast "the first time I hit one" it didn't seem like a good idea anymore. A few days later in his Tempest, he flew Tempests and Typhoons, he put his wingtip under the tip of the bomb's wing to 'upset the airflow' and it fell away - hopefully into open country. He said he had heard at the time that pilots MAY have used a wing to actually tip the bomb up but he didn't think that was a good idea either!


Hope you are keeping well.


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