German bomber shot down over Hollanden Park.
At 11.25pm on March 14th, 1944, a Junkers Ju88A-14 (serial number 550299) call-sign B3+CK of 2/KG54 (No.2 Squadron, 54 Bomber Group) was attacked by Lieutenant Archibald "Harry" Harrington (USAAF) and Sergeant Dennis George Tongue in a Mosquito night-fighter of 410 Squadron. The starboard engine of the Ju88 burst into flames, the crew jettisoned the bombs and baled out. Uffz H. Heide (injured), Uffz E. Schneider, Uffz K. Schneider, and Uffz H. Oberle (injured) all landed safely and were taken prisoner. The aircraft broke up in the air and crashed to the ground at Marchants Farm, Hollanden Park.
Source: The Blitz, Then and Now, Volume 3.
The following was a letter sent to the Kent & Sussex Courier sometime in the early 1980s regarding the above incident:
THE FIRE GIRLS OF 1943-44
Over the past year, the interest being shown in your paper about stories of German planes in the area has several times made me think about "my" plane story!
In 1943 I went to Hildenborough to attend a teacher training college which had been evacuated, from Deptford, to Hollanden Park, Coldharbour Lane. As I was already trained as a "fireguard" I joined the college's fire-fighting team. I cannot remember whether it was late in 1943 or early 1944 when a German bomber crashed, narrowly missing the big house, and hitting the big greenhouses nearby. We girls were trundled out in our tin hats, with our stirrup-pumps, to fight the blaze! Many of the tall fir trees had caught alight and were like blazing beacons. The empty stabling adjoining the house was threatened and, of course, the greenhouses underneath the blazing plane were all well alight. I remember being the fire team No 1, holding the hose while lying on the ground as close as I could get, trying to damp down the end of the building.
I wonder if anyone still in the area remembers this episode?"
C. M. BAKER (Mrs)
Chiddingstone Heath
Over the past year, the interest being shown in your paper about stories of German planes in the area has several times made me think about "my" plane story!
In 1943 I went to Hildenborough to attend a teacher training college which had been evacuated, from Deptford, to Hollanden Park, Coldharbour Lane. As I was already trained as a "fireguard" I joined the college's fire-fighting team. I cannot remember whether it was late in 1943 or early 1944 when a German bomber crashed, narrowly missing the big house, and hitting the big greenhouses nearby. We girls were trundled out in our tin hats, with our stirrup-pumps, to fight the blaze! Many of the tall fir trees had caught alight and were like blazing beacons. The empty stabling adjoining the house was threatened and, of course, the greenhouses underneath the blazing plane were all well alight. I remember being the fire team No 1, holding the hose while lying on the ground as close as I could get, trying to damp down the end of the building.
I wonder if anyone still in the area remembers this episode?"
C. M. BAKER (Mrs)
Chiddingstone Heath
