A war hero who became an air warden as a teenager and went on to nurse injured fighter pilots and work alongside one of the most famous RAF figures, has died.

Barbara Baker, nee Marsh, who lived in London Road, Dunkirk, near Faversham, was 93.

Determined to play her part in the war effort, she became an air raid warden at Knockholt when she was just 17, and helped to rescue civilians from the rubble of bombed out buildings.

Keen to follow in the footsteps of her elder brother Eric, who was serving with the Coldstream Guards, she joined the RAF's Women's Auxiliary Air Force as soon as she was old enough the following year.

As a medical orderly, Mrs Baker, nicknamed 'Bobby', was stationed in fighter command airfields where she tended to aircrew as they arrived back from fighting in Europe.

In her final posting in Essex, she worked alongside disabled fighter pilot hero Sir Douglas Bader.

Mrs Baker left the RAF in 1947 after contracting tuberculosis in her knee, and returned home to Dunkirk to look after her father and younger brother.

The end of the war saw her take up a job as a car trimmer at Rootes Motor Company in Canterbury and then at Smedley's Canning Factory in Faversham.

She was married late in life to Bill Baker, a vegetable buyer who she met at Smedley's.

But tragedy was just around the corner when he was killed in a car accident six months later.

Paying tribute to his sister, brother Alex Marsh said: "It wasn’t an easy life in those days.

"There was a lot of rough work to do in the RAF, like lifting stretchers. She obviously saw a lot of injured pilots and aircrew.

"After she came out of the service, she was the most generous of people, to her family and their children. She devoted the rest of her life to her cottage, her country garden, her flowers, and her pets.

"Four years ago, at the age of 89, life became difficult. After a short period in hospital she moved into the Red House nursing home in Canterbury, where she was looked after by their dedicated and caring staff."

A former pupil of Dunkirk School, Mrs Baker was born in the village on April 30, 1925 to Oscar and Ivy Marsh.

She was sister to Phyllis, Eric and Alex and never remarried.

She passed away on July 21, 2018.