Memories of one of the most heroic episodes of the Second World War were revived at Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.
Chairman of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust Sir Ian Garnett made a presentation of a rare and historic photograph.
It shows the leader of the ill-fated Channel Dash, in which six outdated Swordfish torpedo bombers set out to attack three powerful German warships which were defended by more than 50 smaller ships and numerous fighter planes.
Not one of the Swordfish came back, and only five of the 18 airmen who took part in the raid survived. Their leader, Irishman Eugene Esmonde, was not among them.
His aircraft was seen to dive into the sea not far from Calais, but the currents brought his body back to England where it was recovered off Gillingham.
Lt Cdr Esmonde was buried at Woodlands on April 30, 1942.
Sir Ian said: "The photograph I presented shows Esmonde leading the survivors of his squadron after their ship, HMS Ark Royal, had been sunk. There are very few pictures of him.
"This one was presented to me by the Telegraphist Air Gunners Association in 1994 when I was Flag Officer Naval Aviation. I've treasured it since then.
"This year sees the 70th anniversary of the attack and I thought who better to have the picture than the Channel Dash Association, which I know will treasure it always."
The framed photograph was presented to Peter Nixon, chairman of the association, at Esmonde's graveside (pictured above).
He said: "I can't begin to describe how important this picture is. Pictures of Esmonde are rare, but even more rare are pictures of him with most of his squadron and ground crew."
The day before the attack, Lt Cdr Esmonde had been at Buckingham Palace to receive the DSO for his part in the sinking of the German battleship Bismark. He was posthumously awarded the VC for his role in the Channel Dash.