It’s not every day you see four military helicopters touching down in Headcorn.

That was the sight that greeted people at the village’s aerodrome on Thursday, when Royal Navy Lynx Wildcats from dropped by.

The choppers, from 825 squadron based in Somerset, landed there to refuel en route to a flypast in Ramsgate. They were there to pay tribute to 40 men from their branch who were killed in a disastrous wartime mission to attack the German fleet off the English coast.

The Channel Dash incident happened 73 years ago when British commanders were ambushed by a large battle fleet and 250 Nazi aircraft on the other side of the waterway.

Thirteen naval airmen were killed when their planes were shot down and 24 sailors died in the battle.

The anniversary of the mission was marked by a gathering of The Channel Dash Association in the port town.

Air traffic controller, David Smith, said: “We periodically get RAF and Royal Navy helicopters here, stopping for fuel and something from the cafe.

“It is good for us, another plus for our aerodrome.

“It was very impressive, they came in very low because of the bad weather, one behind the other and certainly stopped work at the airfield with everyone watching them.”