Military Aviation Heritage Network

12/09/2026

Once again the museum is gearing up for Wings and Wheels on the 12th and 13th September!
Come and join us at the museum for an unforgettable weekend. Climb into the cockpits of some of your favourite aircraft, see a wide range of vehicles and maybe take a ride in a tank!
Book your tickets here!
https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/ticketing/wings-and-wheels--2026

11/09/2026

We are looking forward to the next big event at Stow - the hugely popular Large Model Air Show tomorrow, 12 September. You will see aircraft from biplanes through to jets going through their paces above the Aerodrome, but these amazing craft are all piloted from the ground. And when we say "Large" we mean it - some of these models are the size of family cars! Book your tickets now, or on the gate, https://www.stowmaries.org.uk/event/stow-maries-great-war-aerodrome-large-model-air-show-2026-1982363402300 pic by Lyndsey Gilbertson

11/09/2026

One of those of ‘The Few’ who was shot down on this day, 11th September, in 1940, was Sergeant Roger E. de Cannart d’Hamale. Here is his story and brought to you by the Volunteers at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge.

On Wednesday 11th September 1940 No. 46 Squadron, based at Stapleford, were in action of south-east England and one of those shot down was Sergeant Roger E. de Cannart d’Hamale. He is recorded as being shot down in combat over north Kent, in Hurricane Mk. I, Serial No. V649, and was forced to bale out, landing at Court Lodge, Bodiam. He is believed to have sustained an injured forehead (although photographs taken shortly afterward, he baled out and attached to this post show no such injuries). His Hurricane crashed to earth at School Fields, Sandhurst. The crash site was excavated back in the 1970s and the excavated remains from this aircraft are on show in the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) together with parts of another Hurricane that carried Sgt. Roger de Cannart d’Hamale to his death on 1st November 1940.

Two more Hurricanes of No. 46 Squadron were lost in this combat. Sergeant William A. Peacock was posted missing whilst at the controls of Hurricane Mk. I, Serial No. V7232. His Hurricane is believed to have crashed into the English Channel carrying Sgt. Peacock to a watery grave. There is some evidence however to show that he crashed close to where P/O Arthur Clarke’s Hurricane, Serial No, P3770, of No. 504 Squadron crashed at Rookelands, near Newchurch, Kent, about half an hour later. Both Sgt. William Peacock and P/O Arthur Clarke remain missing presumed killed to this day. The second Hurricane shot down from No. 46 Squadron was P3094 and was flown by P/O Peter R. McGregor baled out slightly injured. His Hurricane crashed in West Lordine Wood, Staplecross.

No. 46 Squadron had taken off from Stapleford at 15.10 hours to intercept raid ‘7’, approaching Deal and Dover. They encountered the enemy consisting of about 40 Dornier Do 215 (actually Dornier Do 17s) bombers in large vics of five echeloned at 18,000 feet heading north-north-west in the vicinity of Dover and Folkestone at 15.47 hours. The bombers were escorted by Messerschmitt Bf 109E’s in front ad about 2,000 feet above and Messerschmitt Bf 110’s behind and slightly above. Red and Yellow Sections did a beam attack and Blue Section followed.

Roger Emile de Cannart d’Hamale was born on 22nd August 1919 at Saint-Gilles, a municipality of Brussels. His parents were François de Cannart d'Hamale and Madeleine de Cannart d'Hamale. He was educated at the Sacred Heart school there followed by enrolment in the College of Saint-Jean Berckmans.

He decided on a military aviation career and took the entrance exam for second lieutenants in February 1938. On 1st September he was admitted to the Belgian Air Force as a member of intake 78. On 16th August 1939 he qualified as a pilot and was posted to 7 Squadron of III Group of the 3rd Regiment flying the Fairey Fox.

On 10th May 1940, the first day of the German invasion, d'Hamale was operating from Le Zoute airfield and was ordered to fly to Lonzee airfield in company with his Observer Captain Abel Maquet. On 12th May, early in the morning, he was detailed for a sortie over Huy, this was flown with Observer Flying Officer Lippens. The German advance was so rapid that they moved again to Fosses airfield, east of Charleroi but stayed for just one day, moving again to Aalter, west of Ghent.

On the morning of 18th May Aalter airfield was attacked and most of the remaining aircraft were destroyed on the ground. The order to evacuate to Saint-Omer in France was given and after stops at Alençon and Charentilly the squadron reformed at Tours airfield in France where they were told that they were to assemble at Moissac in the south of France and await the armistice. He managed to leave Moissac and made his way to England, landing at Plymouth on 20th June 1940.

As he was already fluent in English, he was able to convert to the Hurricane at 7 OTU Hawarden and was then posted to No. 266 Squadron at Wittering as a Sergeant pilot. As this squadron was equipped with Spitfires, he was rapidly reassigned to No. 46 Squadron at Digby on 13th August 1940.

On 1st September 46 Squadron was moved nearer to the combat zone at North Weald and was in action on the 3rd. On the 11th d'Hamale's section engaged a formation of Do17s escorted by Me110s and Me109s. His Hurricane, V6549, was shot down and d’Hamale baled out, landing with a head injury at Court Lodge, Bodiam, Sussex. His aircraft came down at School Fields, Sandhurst, Kent.

On 17th October, flying in very poor visibility, d'Hamale ran out of fuel and crash-landed, unhurt, at Parkers Farm, Abbess Roding, Essex.

On 1st November 1940 the squadron was patrolling over Hawkinge when it was engaged by Me109s. D’Hamale's Hurricane, Serial No. V7616, was seen to fall away from the combat and crash at Smersole Farm, Swingfield, Dover. d’Hamale did not bale out and was killed. His oxygen line had been shot away, but it is not known if this was the reason for his loss. (items also recovered from this Hurricane are displayed at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge).

He was buried the Hawkinge Cemetery Plot O Grave No. 33 on 12th November 1940. He was exhumed on 7th September 1949, and his body was repatriated and buried in the Pelouse d’Honneur in Brussels.

On 4th September 1944 Brussels was liberated by British forces. On this day his parents, his sister Ghislaine de Cannart d'Hamale and her husband Baron Serge de Menten de Horne were all killed in the Etterbeek suburb of the city. The circumstances of which are unknown.

For information on the Museum, please have a look at our excellent and informative website: www.kbobm.org

Please ‘like’, ‘share’, and ‘comment’, if you so wish.

Many Thanks as always…

10/09/2026

Did Amelia Earhart really get lost?

Many people assume Amelia Earhart's final flight ended because she couldn't find her destination. But what if the evidence suggests otherwise?

Aviation researcher Chris Denchfield believes she was just 20 minutes and 40 miles from safety. During this fascinating talk, he'll explain the calculations, flight simulations and research that led him to that conclusion.

📅 30 September
📍 Croydon Airport House
🎟 Tickets from £5 - click link:
https://www.ticketsource.com/historic-croydon-airport-trust

10/09/2026

If you think you are having a bad day, please read this and think again!

It also helps to explain why it was so important for the volunteers at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust (www.kbobm.org) at Hawkinge to acquire and rebuild a Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV, and remember, of the 2938 airmen known as ‘The Few’, around 800 flew in Bristol Blenheims.

This is an account, in his own words, by Sergeant Arthur T. R. Aslett, a member of ‘The Few’ who flew with No.235 Squadron:

‘It was on the day of 23rd November that our Flight took off for the usual Danish Sweep. Each armed with bombs. It was strange that three LAC navigators had joined the Squadron a few days before. Still fresh and had not yet received the usual sergeant stripes. They were to be initiated into operations. The North Sea was like a mill pond and the sun shone brightly. We passed over the Danish Fishing Fleet and received the usual waves. Shortly after we spotted several E-Boats being serviced from a mother ship. E-boats had been attacking our east coast shipping. They were fast motor torpedo type boats. The order was given by Grey Leader to commence bombing runs; him going in first. When we went over it was quite low, and I was gunning the ships with my twin Vickers. We climbed fast but I saw a Flak explosion to my right; then to the rear and left. Large balls of fire and smoke. The small arms fire from the boats was considerable; all around me. Then a Flak shell hit the aircraft. My turret seat collapsed as the oil pressure was lost. Up my left leg small tufts of blood fur came through my leather trousered flying suit. These wounds were not serious. I knew that my turret oil pressure came from the same supply as the undercarriage. That we had in fact lost use of the wheels for landing. I felt it necessary to inform the pilot, so I wrote on my knee pad ‘My turret unserviceable, suggest undercarriage also damaged’. However, I could see enough to know that the front of the aircraft was blown in; the pilot was very quiet. I passed the message through; he passed it back with the words ‘quite possible’ written against mine. I had always been keen on the wireless part of my job. The three aircraft operators each had a specific part to play in this. One aircraft operator stayed on the identification frequency. Reason for this was to contact our home bases that we were friendly aircraft returning from a sortie (very important) as there was a possibility of getting shot down by our fighters and flak. I was on our Station frequency. The other aircraft stayed on the Station’s Direction-Finding frequency.’

‘When I got back to my wireless set, I switched over to the Station’s Direction-Finding frequency. By the way we never used the full wordage for this; it was trying to raise the Station on frequency 3700 k/cs callsign was 6TL with no success. There was some urgency to get a course to steer back to base. I believe that aircraft was also hit with some injured. Also, we had three navigators who were fresh from training. I decided to plug into the radio telephony set which the pilot used to inter aircraft and ground communication. The pilot of the other aircraft was asking him to get me, his operator to get the course to get us back to base. I then tuned into 3700 kcs and called 6TL. I obtained an immediate reply. So I got a course to steer 248 degrees. Gave it to the pilot and told him to plug into my set. Asked the ground station D/F to go over to voice transmission and got a whole string of courses for the three aircraft to fly which brought us over base Station.’

‘It was then that the ground Station who were watching us coming in saw that we had a bomb hanging live. They set us out over the Wash to try and get rid of it. I guess John Davison thought that it had released itself and came into land with no undercarriage. I remember little of what happened only that I virtually saw stars and heard birds singing so to speak as the bomb exploded on impact. When I opened my eyes, I was hanging from the aircraft that had been blown in half. I could see my feet twisting in the wreckage and the plane was on fire with exploding armaments. I had the vague feeling of the pilot and navigator running away from the aircraft with shouting voices. They ran back and pulled me clear of the aircraft. I was literally near death. I had been wearing all my leather fur lined flying gear and was conscious that my left arm was hanging off at the elbow. I ended up in Eley Hospital, the pilot got the George Medal and Geoff Brazier, the navigator, got the B.E.M. for the heroic rescue.’

‘Mum, Dad, and Gladys were informed from Air Ministry of our bad luck on air operations and of my sojourn in Eley Hospital by telegram. Seriously wounded but not dangerously so. My injuries were – Shrapnel and bullet wounds in legs, two broken legs, left arm severed at the elbow, and virtually blind in my right eye. Both legs were in plaster to the hips into which were seeping fluid from the open wounds. Arm in plaster to the shoulder. It was to Squadron Leader Dick the orthopaedic surgeon that I owed the repair to my arm. He did tell me that I might not be able to bend the elbow. one day he caught me trying to get food into my mouth with a fork. His words were if you keep that up you might recover a fair deal of movement. His words were to prove prophetic. Although my eye went through intensive examination, gradually the sight came back. Conclusion being that I had suffered a bruise across the pupil which was gradually absorbed as do all bruising.’

‘My Flight Commander, Flt/Lt. Goddard was in the Officer’s Ward. He went in a few days before with leg injuries. He had had a fight with Heinkel aircraft. He was decorated in hospital with the D.F.C. During this the King and Queen came into our Ward. The Queen spoke to me, and the King stood at the foot of my bed talking to the Head of the Hospital. It was also around this time that Group Captain Primrose the Officer Commanding my operational Station came up to me in bed and said ‘Aslett I am recommending you for the D.F.M.’ About a week later one of the other inmates showed me an article about Primrose being promoted to Air Commodore, decorated with the C.B.E. and posted Officer-in-charge of Icelandic Forces. I guess he forgot me; mind you he was a bit on the old side for a Commanding Officer, and no doubt pleased with his own good fortune (no sour grapes).’

‘I had been virtually unconscious for the first week in hospital. When I came round the pain started, I believe they kept me on morphine for a few days. Mum and Dad came up to see me during my stay in Eley. Gladys came up on her own. It must be remembered that travel was not always kindly as air-raids were frequent around there and London.’

‘I had gone into the Hospital 24th November 1940. It must have been about the first week in March 1941 that I said goodbye and was posted to the Airman’s Convalescent Centre, Blackpool. At this place was exercising most of the day, and general medical support. All of us were billeted with landladies in private Guest Houses. It was at this time that Gladys and I put up the banns for marriage. I was given a week’s leave, and we were married on the 29th March 1941 at St. Paul’s Church on the New Road, Chatham.’

Please 'like', 'share' and ‘comment’ if you so wish.

Many Thanks...

09/09/2026

The Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) site in around 1994 - 1995. At this time, the Museum Pay Desk and Shop were in the Link Trainer Building (at the front of the Lord Dowding Memorial Hangar and under Dave’s flat on site), so visitors could look over the former RAF Airfield as they approached the entrance.

Within a couple of years this view had gone with the destruction of the landing strip by the modern housing development. When this photograph was taken, you could still see the coast of France on a clear day from the Museum site.

For the eagle eyed of you, you should be able to make out the aerodrome identification circle and the word 'HAWKINGE' faintly through the middle of it (although upside down!). This was sadly destroyed when the new housing estate was built over the area.

And if you look closely at the photograph, you will see a 'Daimler Dingo' scout car in the Museum car park!

If you would like to visit the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) the largest and most comprehensive Battle of Britain Museum in the world we are currently open Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm, with last entry by 4pm. Closed on Mondays. From October we go to our Autumn hours of 10am to 4pm, with last entry by 3pm. Please allow yourself at least two hours for your visit and that does not include a stop off in our lovely No. 25 Squadron Mess and Tea Rooms.

For everything you need to know about the Museum, Museum Shop, No. 25 Squadron Mess and Tea Rooms and lots, lots, more, please have a look at and browse through our excellent and informative website: www.kbobm.org

Please ‘like’, ‘share’, and ‘comment’ if you so wish. By doing so you help us promote the Museum to all your friends and family.

Many Thanks as always…

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

Open House Festival at Kenley Airfield!

09/09/2026

We now have a new quiet room available for anyone who needs a moment's peace during their visit. Developed with help from Maldon District Council Quality of Life Matters Community Fund, the quiet room has comfortable seating and interesting reading material - perfect for anyone who wants to take a break during their visit

09/09/2026

Today’s commemoration of an Airmen from the Battle of Britain is Acting Squadron Leader Robert Chippindall Dafforn, who flew with No. 501 Squadron during the Battle of France and Battle of Britain and was tragically killed on this day, 9th September 1943.

Eighty-three years ago today, 9th September 1943, Acting Squadron Leader ‘Bob’ Dafforn was flying a Spitfire, P7289, on an air-firing exercise. He was returning to the airfield when the aircraft was seen to do a steep turn at a very low level, the port wing tip touching the ground. the Spitfire crashed, killing him instantly. He is buried in St. Mary's Churchyard, White Waltham, Berkshire. He was twenty-seven years old.

Parts of his Hurricane Mk. I, Serial No. R4219, are on show in The Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org). He was forced to bale out of this aircraft at 12.05pm on 18th August 1940 after being shot down by Messerschmitt Bf 110s in combat over Biggin Hill. Whilst the then Pilot Officer 'Bob' Dafforn landed in an orchard near Sevenoaks, his Hurricane smashed to earth at Cronks Farm, East Seal.

'Bob' Dafforn was famously photographed at Hawkinge three days before, in a series of propaganda photographs taken of the pilots of No. 501 Squadron at ‘B’ Flight Dispersal at RAF Hawkinge and in mock ‘scrambles.’ Some of which accompany this post. He is easy to identify as he was one of the tallest pilots in RAF Fighter Command and as can be clearly seen in several of the attached photographs.

The Volunteers are very pleased to welcome families of ‘The Few’ on most days during the season and have welcomed the nephew, Robert Dafforn (named after his uncle), of ‘Bob’ Dafforn on several occasions. The first visit on Friday 19th June 2015 when he was joined by his two sisters, and their first stop was an exhibition of artefacts excavated from the Hurricane he was forced to bale out of during the Battle of Britain. They spent the next few hours touring the Museum and seeing many displays commemorating their uncles’ friends and colleagues. The Museum displays artefacts from twenty-eight shot down Hurricanes from No.501 Squadron together with many artefacts from Luftwaffe aircraft they shoot down too! The Dafforn family left reassured that their uncle is fittingly commemorated in the Museum and learnt a lot more about his short life.

Please ‘like’, ‘share’, ‘comment’, but more importantly please remember another of ‘The Few.’

Many Thanks as always…