The Kent Battle of Britain Museum, Aerodrome Road, Hawkinge (2026)

31/05/2026

Eighty-six years ago today, Pilot Officer Antonio Simmons Dini of No. 605 Squadron, was killed shortly after taking off from RAF Hawkinge and is buried in the Hawkinge Cemetery, a short distance from the Museum.

This morning Dave from the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust (www.kbobm.org) visited his grave, and that of Aircraftsman 1st Class Patrick G. E. Sword, who both lost their lives on this day in 1940. Whilst there he laid Royal British Legion Poppy Memorial Crosses on behalf of the Museum and our supporters and in respect of two young lives lost.
Here is Antonio Dini's story: -

Antonio Simmons Dini was born in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand on 17th January 1918, the son of Peitro Antonio and Minnie Florence Dini (need Moorhouse). He attended high school at Christchurch Technical College and obtained his University Entrance Certificate and Engineers Preliminary Certificate. His distinguished himself in sports included rugby, swimming, and badminton.

For five years he became Cadet at Technical College as a mechanic and after leaving college he was employed as a mechanic for the Post & Telegraph Department. After training as a reserve officer, he embarked on the Ruahine for England on the 1st December 1937. After completing his training, Dini was promoted Pilot Officer in March 1938 and in April he was posted to No. 3 Flying Training School in Shellingford. In October, he was posted to the School of Naval Co-operation.

In May 1939, he was posted to the No. 750 Squadron of the Royal Navy before being posted four months later to No. 66 Squadron. After a short period of administrative duties, he was posted in April 1940 to No. 607 Squadron which was then based at Abbeville in France. The Squadron being equipped with Hurricanes.

On 10th May, the Germans invaded France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. P/O Dini was immediately engaged in the fighting. Intercepting 3 bomber attacks, he managed to shoot down two Heinkel He 111’s and damage a further two. His first encounter took place near Lille, where after a short burst of fire the bomber was seen to lose altitude with a damaged engine. A short time later on another patrol, he intercepted Luftwaffe bombers near Oudenaarde. Dini then attacked the last bomber and saw it burst into flames. During his third encounter with the enemy in the evening, he intercepted three Heinkel’s in the direction of Douai.

On the 11th May, whilst at the controls of Hurricane Mk. I, Serial No. P2572 (and coded AF-B), he shared the destruction of a Heinkel He 111 north-east of Brussels. On the 13th May he destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 109E-1 near Diest and on the 17th he shot down a Dornier Do 17 east of Cambrai and two Heinkel He 111’s near Binche.

After eleven days of intensive combat often in difficult conditions, the squadron lost many aircraft, especially on the ground following aerial bombardments. The ground personnel from the squadron returned to England embarking on the 20th May from Boulogne. No. 607 Squadron returned to Croydon on May 22 after winning 72 victories during the Battle of France. In eight days of fighting, P/O Dini had claimed five victories, two shared, two damaged and three inconclusive.

After returning to England, P/O Dini was posted to No. 605 Squadron then based at RAF Hawkinge, Kent. On Friday 31st May he took off from Hawkinge in Hurricane, Serial No. L2117, but experienced engine failure shortly after take-off. He attempted a forced landing, but his Hurricane rolled over at low altitude and dived into a road six miles north of Folkestone. Pilot Officer Antonio Simmons Dini, aged twenty-two, was killed. It was thought he may have been overcome by glycol fumes. He was buried in the Hawkinge Cemetery on 7th June 1940 where he remains to this day. His squadron had left Hawkinge for Drem in Scotland three days earlier, but it is not known why this aircraft was still at their former base.

For many years the location of his crash has always been a bit of a puzzle to Dave, and it has only been in the last year that he has discovered the exact location where P/O Dini’s Hurricane crashed. It turns out that the wartime report that stated ‘six miles north of Folkestone’ is completely wrong! It was approximately six miles to the west!

Please 'like', 'share' and more importantly remember Pilot Officer Antonio Simmons Dini

Many Thanks...

31/05/2026

Eighty-six years ago today, Aircraftsman 1st Class Patrick G. E. Sword is recorded as being killed.

This morning Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust (www.kbobm.org), Sunday 31st May 2026, Dave visited his grave, and that of Pilot Officer Antonio Simmons Dini of No. 605 Squadron, who both lost their lives on this day in 1940.

Royal British Legion Poppy Memorial Crosses was laid on behalf of the Museum and our supporters and in respect of two young lives lost.

Here is Aircraftsman 1st Class Patrick G. E. Sword’s story: -

AC1 Patrick Graham Elliot Sword (Service No. 637552), the son of Arthur Elliot and Louise Sword is recorded as being killed on 31st May 1940 but more than likely lost his life two days earlier on 29th May. He is recorded as being born in Birkenhead, Borough of Wirral, Merseyside and being 23 or 24 years old (depending on which document you read) at the time of his death.

He was aboard HMS Bideford which on her first evacuation trip from the beaches of Dunkirk on 29th May 1940 was struck by a German bomb which set off one of Bideford’s depth charges, badly damaging the ship and killing 28, 16 from the ship’s crew and 12 passengers. The aft 40 feet (12 metres) of the ship’s stern was blown off and the ships mainmast collapsed, with Bideford having to be grounded to avoid sinking. The minesweeper Kellett took off the surviving troops but despite damage to the sloop, other troops later boarded her. The Dragonfly-class River gun boat ‘Locust’ towed Bideford back to Dover. The journey taking 32 hours and ended on 31st May; hence the date of death being recorded as the 31st instead as the 28th May.

Please 'like', 'share' and more importantly remember Patrick Sword.

Many Thanks...

29/05/2026

Amongst the visitors on Tuesday 26th May 2026 at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) were two of our regular artists, renowned aviation and military artist, David Bryant, and his good mate and fellow artist Steve Beech. Usually, they can be seen at the Museum on Wednesdays and what has become known as ‘Artist Wednesdays’ when you can regularly see up to four artists painting and drawing around the largest collection of Battle of Britain artefacts on show anywhere in the world. (Terry Whitebread was the only one painting at the Museum on Wednesday this week).

As most of you know, it has been an incredibly hot week and Tuesday was one of the hottest, so both David and Steve set up their easels in the Museum Grounds and using the Junkers Ju 52/3M (CASA 352L) and the Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV (Bolingbroke) for shade as well as subjects.

As usual David and Steve started their day with a Full English Breakfast in our lovely No. 25 Squadron Mess and Tea Rooms, before starting the day of painting in the Museum Grounds. It must be said that their day was not entirely all painting, as they spent a fair bit of it talking to visitors as well as Museum Volunteers, which is all part of their and our day, and makes this such a special experience for everyone.

The Museum is currently open 10am to 5pm, with last entry by 4pm, Tuesdays to Sundays. Closed Mondays except on Bank Holidays. Please allow yourselves at least two hours for your visit and if you have an interest in the Second World War and / or the Battle of Britain, you will need a lot, lot, longer. 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 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.

Many Thanks as always…

28/05/2026

Here’s the latest update from the Volunteers at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) and the May Bank Holiday Weekend was sadly not as busy as we would have liked or expected.

Friday 22nd May and Saturday 23rd May 2026 there were problems on the M20 and A20 between Folkestone and Dover, which meant that at various times of the day the roads were completely blocked and visitors struggled to get to us. One couple reported that they had taken three hours to get to the Museum from the other side of Cheriton, a journey that should have usually taken 10 to 15 minutes. The traffic chaos was caused mostly by the ‘Great Britain Get Away’ via Dover Docks and the Channel Tunnel, the implementation of Operation Tap (the Dover end of Operation Brock) and on Saturday afternoon an accident between a lorry and a van on the A20 into Dover. Thankfully this is a very rare occurrence and happens once or twice a year. The Media cover the traffic chaos but sadly never finish the story with the good news that the hold ups usually clear within a few hours! This then sends a negative and false impression that holds up in the area are a regular thing. Thankfully they are not. The result for Friday and Saturday meant that we were down by about 50% on visitors on both days ☹.

Thankfully the roads were normal throughout the rest of the Bank Holiday Weekend, and visitors were back to a reasonable level although slightly down from those of 2025. We think purely down to the excessive heat over the last week with temperatures in the 30s. With being only three miles in land from the coast, we think a lot of people headed to the seaside instead of Museums.

Sunday 24th May 2026, we had a medical emergency before the Museum had even opened and several first aid trained volunteers were on hand until an ambulance arrived. The lady was treated in hospital, and we are very pleased to report that she was back home by late afternoon.

If that was not enough drama for the day at around lunchtime, we had a swarm of bees that decided to take a liking to one of the fence pins that holds the rope around the three Gate Guardian Hurricanes, which form the centre piece in the Museum Grounds! Eric, one of our volunteers, was on hand to safely guide visitors past the swarm. Thankfully Chris Gannon called in during the afternoon and contacted Shepway Bees and after the Museum had closed for the day, thy attended site and safely removed and rehomed the bees on our behalf. The Museum Volunteers would like to extend our sincere thanks to Chris and Shepway Bees for all their help and assistance.

On a very positive note, we were notified that an incredibly rare Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 was flying over to Headcorn late afternoon and was being flown by an old friend of the Museum, Charlie Brown. The Messerschmitt is based in Germany and had flown at an airshow in France over the weekend. Dave pinged Charlie a message just in case he saw it, but we don’t think he did, but thankfully at around 5.20pm the 109E arrived over the Museum. This must be the first time a Messerschmitt Bf 109E has flown over RAF Hawkinge since the Second World War, although around 1990 we did have ‘Black 6’, a Messerschmitt Bf 109G, fly over the Museum being chased by a Spitfire! Dave was very lucky to witness both flyovers.

The Museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm, with last entry by 4pm. This does not include a stop off in our lovely No. 25 Squadron Mess and Tea Rooms. Please allow yourselves at least two hours to visit the Museum and if you are interested in the period, you will need a lot longer! We are closed on Mondays except Bank Holidays.

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.

Many Thanks…

27/05/2026

This post from the Volunteers at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust (www.kbobm.org) at Hawkinge starts with the story of Aircraftsman 1st Class Harold George Littlewood, who was killed in action on 26th May 1940, eighty-six years ago yesterday.

Yesterday late afternoon, 26th May 2026, Dave and Mitch visited the grave of Harold Littlewood in the Commonwealth War Grave Section in the local Hawkinge Cemetery. There he laid a Royal British Legion Poppy Cross on behalf of his family and the Volunteers from the Museum, and as promised to his next-of-kin when they visited the Museum two years ago.

Back on 11th April 2023 a grandmother, daughter and granddaughter arrived at the Museum and was greeted by Dave, who as usual was front of house. They explained that they were the relations of Ac1 Harold G. Littlewood, the grandmother, Carol Beaney, being his niece.
Carol very kindly allowed Dave to copy some photographs of her uncle and in exchange he was very pleased to give her and her family as much information as we had to hand on their relation.

For the family, it was the very first time anyone of them had been able to visit his grave, since he was killed, as his mother and father lived in Wales. Before the family left, Dave promised that he and any of his fellow volunteers that wish to join him, would visit Harold’s grave on the anniversary and lay a poppy cross on behalf of the family. This promise was fulfilled yesterday afternoon when his grave was marked and commemorate on the anniversary of his loss.

Here is Ac1 Harold Littlewood’s short story: -

Sunday 26th May 1940

RAF Air Component No. 16 Squadron based at RAF Lympne in Kent.

Lysander Mk. I, Serial No. P1720 (coded KJ-R), took off from RAF Lympne at 6.30am on a Tactical Reconnaissance Flight from Gris Nez to the Belgian – Dutch frontier, and up to 6 miles inland from the coast. Nothing of significance was seen.

Attacked in error at 7.45am by three Spitfires of No. 74 Squadron and flown by P/O Stephens, Flt/Sgt. Mayne, and P/O Cobden between Bourbourg and Bergues, France. It is believed that they misidentified the Lysander as a Henchel 126. The pilot, Pilot Officer J. D. Hall, returned to Lympne Airfield unhurt, but sadly his air gunner, Aircraftsman 1st Class Harold George Littlewood (630251) was killed.

Aircraftsman 1st Class Harold George Littlewood was 18 years old having been born at Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, the son of Harold Bucknell Fortesque Littlewood and Lily Littlewood (nee Davies) of Penydarren. He sadly became the very first burial in the Commonwealth War Graves Section in the Hawkinge Cemetery, only a couple of hundred yards away from where the Museum now stands.

Lysander Serial No. P1720 must have suffered little damage in this tragic incident as it appears from the No. 16 Squadron Operation Record Book that it flew a Tactical Recce flight the following morning with P/O Griffiths and P/O Hare and again on the 28th when it failed to return from another Tactical Recce over Dunkirk, France, but this time with the pilot, Flt. William R. Clapham (Mentioned in Dispatches), aged 29, and Sgt. Roy Ernest Brown, aged 23, both of whom were killed. It was recorded that it was hit by ground fire and crashed on land owned by Mr Cours just outside St. Momelin at 07.45 hrs crashing near Longuenesse, 5 kilometres north of St. Omer. The remains of both the crew were recovered from the crash location by Mr Monsterlet, a local garage-keeper, and initially buried in a secret location. He tended the graves until they were moved to the Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery in the late 1940’s.

Two years Dave was asked to suggest five names to be adopted as new roads being built on the former RAF Hawkinge Officers Mess Site. Initially the Hawkinge Town Council were told that these would not sadly be adopted. Last year Dave learnt that the contractor had added several roads to their development and one of which they have named after Harold Littlewood, one of the names that Dave had put forward.

Please ‘like’, ‘share’ and help us commemorate a lost soul from the Battle of France and the Evacuation of Dunkirk.

Many Thanks…

25/05/2026

Another Memorial Post from the Volunteers at The Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org)

109 years ago this evening, 25th May 1917, twenty-three Gothas took off from St. Denis-Westrem and Melle-Gontrode led by Hauptmann Ernst Brandenburg on a sortie to bomb London. As the Gothas reached the Essex coast, the formation split into two and crossed the coastline between the rivers Blackwater and Crouch.

As the Gotha’s headed towards London, they found the capital under a dense layer of cloud so aborted the planned attack and turned towards the south coast at 5.30pm to pick up the Southeastern train line which would take them back to the Channel ports.

The first four bombs were dropped on Luddesdown and Harvel, then Linton near Maidstone. As the formation progressed across Kent they dropped further bombs on Marden, Pluckley, Smarden, Bethersden, Ashford, Kingsnorth, Shadoxhurst, Mersham, Ruckinge, Bilsington, Lympne airfield, Hythe, Sandgate and the Shorncliffe Army Camp. Many civilians were killed or injured. At the Shorncliffe Army Camp eighteen soldiers, mostly Canadian, were killed.

But worst was to come when the Gotha’s reached Folkestone just after 6.00pm. Eighteen bombs were dropped on the West End and Central Station areas (with four civilians being killed), Radnor Park and Foord areas received six bombs (killing one) and Bouverie Road East area received eight bombs (killing six). A long queue had formed outside Messers Stokes’s greengrocery store in Tontine Street as word had got around that they had received a delivery of then precious potatoes. The majority in the queue were women accompanied by their young children. At 6.22pm disaster struck when a bomb from one of the Gothas exploded outside the shop, killing forty-four instantly and a further seventeen dying later in hospital from their horrendous injuries. At least one hundred and two civilians were injured in the raid.

Those lost in Folkestone were: -

Mary A. Arnold aged 21
Harold H. Banks aged 25
Eliza M. Barker aged 33
Maggie G. Bartleet aged 24
Annie Beer aged 30
Annie (Rose) Beer aged 2
Arthur S. Beer aged 11
William J. Beer aged 9
George H. Bloodworth aged 19
Gertrude E. Bowbrick aged 12
Mabel E. Bowbrick aged 9
Sydney Brockway aged 63
Dorothy L. Burgin aged 16
David J. Burke aged 42
Hilda E. Burvill aged 20
George E. Butcher aged 44
Annie E. Cason aged 46
Albert E. Castle aged 41
Kathleen Chapman aged 16
William Clark aged 12
Francis H. Considine aged 5
Phyllis A. Cooper aged 9
Albert D. Daniels aged 12
Frederick C. Day aged 47
Edith A. Dicker aged 13
Sarah J. Dicker aged 41
Alfred D. Down aged 54
Florence E. Dukes aged 18
Florence E. Dukes aged 51
Edith M. Eales aged 17
Nellie Feist aged 50
Stanley A. Feist aged 5
Florence Francis aged 33
Edward S. Gould aged 39
Richard A. Graves aged 40
Edith M. Grimes aged 24
William H. Hall aged 64
Johanna M. Hambly aged 67
Ethel L. Hambrook aged 12
Caroline Harris aged 35
F***y Harrison aged 39
Dennis W. Hayes aged 2
Martha G. Hayes aged 30
Louisa A. Hayward aged 37
Arthur D. Hickman aged 6
Mary P. Holloway aged 9
Veronica M. Holloway aged 16 months
Edward J. Horn aged 45
Constante Houdard aged 33
Rosina C. Hughes aged 34
Dorothy B. Jackman aged 14
Katherine E. Laxton aged 72
William Lee age not known
Daniel S. Lyth aged 54
Agnes C. McDonald aged 22
Albert E. McDonald aged 12
Jane Marshment aged 50
Elizabeth Maxted aged 31
Ernest H. McGuire aged 6
Jane C. M. Moss aged 20
Walter G. Moss aged 2
Florence K. Norris aged 2
Florence L. Norris aged 24
William A. Norris aged 10 months
Amy G. Parker aged 42
Mabel Reed aged 12
John W. F. Robinson aged 5
Florence Rumsey aged 17
Marie Snoawert aged 44
Gladys A. Sparkes aged 18
Arthur E. Stokes aged 14
William H. Stokes aged 46
Edith G. Terry aged 13
Alfred Vane aged 35
Hyppolite Verschueren aged 41
Doris E. S. Walton aged 16
Elizabeth C. Waugh aged 48
Isabel Wilson aged 80

Please 'like' and 'share' and help us commemorate those lost innocent lives....

Many Thanks...

24/05/2026

Here's a cracking video from five years ago of our Heinkel He 111H-16 at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust (www.kbobm.org) at Hawkinge.

Thanks to Nik Coleman, Bryon Webster and Team from History's Greatest Aircraft / Plane Resurrection for producing this short promotional video on our behalf when they were at the Museum in 2021 filming the Heinkel for a History's Greatest Aircraft Documentary.

They have been back since to to film two more documentaries, one on the Hurricane and another on the Junkers Ju 52/3M (CASA 352L).

Please 'like', 'share', and 'comment.'

Many Thanks...

https://www.facebook.com/historysgreatestaircraft/videos/150288370446779

23/05/2026

This weekend, 23rd to 25th May 2026, is of course another Bank Holiday Weekend.

If you are planning your weekend, why not consider a visit to the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) and discover the largest and most comprehensive collection of Battle of Britain artefacts on show anywhere in the world. (From Easter this year we became the largest collection of Battle of France Air Warfare artefacts). Ranging from aircraft, some original, some replica, vehicles, weaponry, flying equipment, uniforms, medals, fine art prints, and recovered artefacts from over 700 Battle of Britain aircraft.

The Museum is more than just another aviation museum; it is a living breathing monument to all those who flew and fought in the Battle of Britain. It is better described as a Museum of The Men of The Battle of Britain.

Please do not take our word for it, here are the Google Reviews from the last week;

Trevor Beckwith *****
This is one brilliant place if you have any interest about the Battle of Britain give yourself a treat and come here everything here is awesome

Jonny Cooper *****
Amazing. One of the best museums in Britain (in my opinion)! Full of actual artefacts from The Battle of Britain. The staff we met on the day were also fantastic. Definitely visit again.

S F *****
Great place.
Full of interesting war related things and friendly knowledgeable staff who will answer any questions.
Bigger site than you think.
Nice little tearoom / cafe on site to get a coffee and breakfast or a cake.
Definitely worth a visit.

Howard Malyon *****
Be prepared to spend a few hours here or even better a day or 2. The museum is absolutely packed with items to see and read. Remember, camera's/phone's can only be used when accompanied by a member of staff and they are more than happy to assist, depending on what you want to photograph. I had no issues.

The Museum is currently open Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm, with last entry by 4pm. We are closed on Mondays except Bank Holidays so hence we are open this coming Monday 25th May 2026.

For everything you need to know about the Museum, Museum Shop, No. 25 Squadron Mess and Tea Rooms, Heinkel He 111H-16, Junkers Ju 52/3M (CASA 352L), Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV (Bolingbroke), Fieseler Fi 156C-7 Storch, Westland Whirlwind Fighter Projects, 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.’

Many Thanks as always…

22/05/2026

This morning, Friday 22nd May 2026, we were very pleased to welcome an old friend, Ian Goodban, to the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) to present Dave with the propeller blade from a Dornier Do 17Z that crashed in the English Channel off Kingsdown, near Deal, Kent, on 9th November 1940. Ian found this in 2014 whilst beach diving and Dave identified it back at this time as coming from this aircraft. Today it was donated to the Museum as its permanent and forever home and our sincere thanks to Ian Goodban and Andrea Bailey, Deputy Receiver of Wreck, HM Coastguard.

Here is the story of this Dornier Do 17Z: -

Dornier Do 17Z Werke No. 3495 (coded 3U+BM)
4th Staffel Kampfgeschwader 2

This VDM propeller blade originates from a Dornier Do 17Z, Werke No. 3495 and coded 3U+BM, and flew with the 4th Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 2 It crashed in the shallows off Kingsdown, Deal, Kent, at 20.40 hours on 9th November 1940.

Some wreckage was washed ashore at Walmer Beach, Deal, and Kingsdown and eyewitnesses stated that the aircraft crashed into the sea, near the coast. Wreckage consisted of pieces of wing and tail plane, and a plate bearing the details ‘Blohm & Voss, Hamburg; Licence Dornier.’

Three bodies were washed ashore the following day (and one six days after the crash) between Kingsdown and Deal and one of whom had a bullet hole in his shoulder. They were; Leutnant Günther Mollemhauer, Oberfeldwebel Heinz Fischer (aged 25 and from Dresden), Unteroffizier Leopold Kaluza (aged 23 and from Klausberg, Austria, now in Italy), and Unteroffizier Herbert Reinsch (aged 20 and from Dresden). Fischer, Kaluza, and Reinsch remain to this day buried in Plot C, Block 8, in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal. Unlike all the other Military Graves in this cemetery, Heinz Fischer and Herbert Reinsch appear to be buried on a single grave, and a separate headstone for Leopold Kaluza alongside.

Leutnant Günther Mollenhauer, aged 21, was from the city of Spottau, which at this time was in the German Province of Silesia. It is now called Szprotawa and is now in Poland. He was born on 17th October 1919. His body was found on the dunes between Sandown Castle and the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club on 15th November 1940, three days after his comrades had been buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, and six days after the crash.

The date of death for all four of the crew is wrongly listed on their graves as being the 12th and 15th November respectively. This is because the date used is the day they were found washed up on the beach.

Leutnant Mollenhauer was buried in Aylesham Cemetery on 18th November 1940. The reason for this is not known. It is quite possible that the British Authorities had not connected that Lt. Mollenhauer was from the same aircraft as Fischer, Reinsch and Kaluza.

In 1959, German casualties who were not buried in either Military Cemeteries or in Commonwealth War Grave Commission plots were moved to the Cannock Chase German War Cemetery in Staffordshire to be reinterred with other German casualties. As the three crew were already buried in an administered plot, they were not moved, and form part of a small group of Axis casualties that are still to be found in their original Second World War era graves in Great Britain (including 59 German losses buried in the CWGC Plot in the Hawkinge Cemetery, a short distance from the Museum).

Leutnant Mollenhauer, along with several other Germans who had been buried in the Aylesham cemetery, was disinterred on 29th October 1962, and was re-buried in Cannock Chase. His grave is in Block: 1, Row 9, Grave 326.

The propeller blade was found by Ian Goodban during a beach dive in 2014. He contacted the Museum at this time and Dave was able to identify the history behind this object. It was preserved by Ian and displayed in his pub, The Freed Man, Walmer, Kent, until recently. As promised by Ian some years ago, today, Friday 22nd May 2026, he donated it to the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) for permanent display and to allow us to tell the story of this aircraft and to commemorate its crew for perpetuity.

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.

Many Thanks as always…

21/05/2026

Another Anniversary that we mark at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum Trust at Hawkinge (www.kbobm.org) today, Thursday 21st May 2026 is the loss of a French Curtiss Hawk 75.

Here is the story of the sixth (of seven) Battle of France aircraft engines in the new display in the Stuart-Buttle Memorial Hangar, a Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp engine from a French Air Force Curtiss Hawk 75 that was shot down in combat eighty-six years ago today, 21st May 1940: -

Curtiss Hawk 75 (38)
GC 1/5

This Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp engine originates from a French Air Force Curtis Hawk 75 (38) of GC 1/5 that was shot down in combat at 5.30pm on Tuesday 21st May 1940. it was reportedly attacked by Messerschmitt Bf 109Es over Beauclair and pursued at low level, finally crashing north of Tailly, between Stenay and Buzancy. the pilot, Captain André Malaval, was killed.

André Malaval was born on 4th February 1905 in the tarn department, in the Occitania Region of Southern France. He was the fifth of six children and studied at the Institut Politechnique de Paris, a Military School, and one of the most prestigious and famous engineering schools in France. he belonged to the 1/5th Air Observation Group. at the time of his death, he is recorded as being married to Yvonne (nee Brozon 1903 – 1989) with two children.

Records state that he was shot down and killed on 21st May 1940 but his gravestone states 20th June 1940. Did he survive being shot down and died of his wounds a month later or is it just an error, caused during the invasion of France and subsequent occupation? He was awarded the Croix de Guerre 1939 – 1945.

Sadly too date this is pretty much all we have been able to research regarding the short life of André Malaval and as yet, we have been unable to trace any photographs of him or any of his descendants. If you are able to help in any form, please drop Dave an email via: [email protected]

For everything you need to know about the Kent Battle of Britain Museum which is open Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm, with last entry by 4pm (closed on Mondays except on Bank Holidays so we are open this coming Monday 25th May 2026) 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.

Many Thanks as always…

The Kent Battle of Britain Museum

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