By Robin Britcher

Peter Rainer was one of the first on the scene when a German bomber crashed in Ashford soon after midnight in May 1941.

Now 95, he returned to the site last week where an information plaque has been erected to mark the 80th anniversary.

It tells how villagers pulled the injured crew from their wrecked Heinkel 111 - near the mound on Spearpoint playing fields in Kennington - and put out a fire in one of the engines.

Alan Dean, chairman of Kennington Community Council, said: “This is a remarkable story of local residents, at the height of war, showing a humane response to rescue and care for young men in peril.

“I am so glad the council agreed to respond to the proposal for a plaque and that it could be erected with one of the original witnesses here to see it.”

Cllr Nathan Iliffe (Con), Ashford borough councillor for Kennington, said: “As time passes, those who lived through these experiences will be lost to us.

“It is important we acknowledge events such as these and preserve the memories of past generations.”

Mr Rainer still vividly remembers how he and his father ran to the field from their home in The Street after hearing the plane come down.

“We started to pull the injured men out and got them as far away as we could because one of the engines was alight. We smothered it with lumps of turf torn up by the crash,” said Mr Rainer, now living in Hythe.

They were helped by Fred and Peter Huckstepp.

Sisters Joan and Joyce Peters ran back home for pillows and blankets and some ladies arrived with a tray of teas.

The Heinkel was attacked by a Spitfire and badly damaged after bombing London on the last night of the Blitz.

It was forced to make a belly landing and the wings jammed against two trees - one wing demolishing a fence belonging to air raid warden Frank Field of Church Road.

The pilot died, but the four other members of the crew recovered from their injuries and were sent to a prisoner of war camp in Canada.

In 1979 the navigator Albert Hufenreuter, who became an English teacher after the war, returned to Kennington.

He called on Fred Huckstepp to thank him for saving his life - and apologised to Mr and Mrs Field for demolishing their fence.

Ashford is twinned with Bad Münstereifel in Germany.

Among those at last week’s event were Cllr Matthew Forest (Con), Ashford Borough Council's twinning champion, and Philippa Seager, secretary of Ashford Twinning Association.

The drama of May 11, 1941 is told by Peter Rainer in a YouTube video, 'The Night a Heinkel Crashed in Kent'.

It was made by Wildwood Media and produced by Robin Britcher, author of Kennington at War 1939-1945, and David Hebditch of Baby Art Kent/Portland Studios, Sandgate.

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