Barely two weeks after the horrors of D-Day had played out across the Channel, an unimaginable tragedy befell troops nervously waiting to be deployed to Normandy – this time on British soil.
A V1 Doodlebug flying bomb landed on the Newlands Stud between Lenham and Charing Heath, where members of the 6 Guards Tank Brigade’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) Workshop were billeted in Nissen huts.
The explosion on June 24, 1944, killed 52 Craftsmen and other ranks. Eighty other servicemen were injured.
Today, each of the fallen has his own immaculately kept grave in a spot in the cemetery. But that was not always the case.
At the time, fearful of the effect on morale of such a huge loss in a single blow, the government ordered the dead to be buried in a mass grave at night, as the REME second in command, Captain (later Brigadier) Cliff Gough revealed in his memoires.
He wrote: “It was a beautiful sunny morning and there was no need for us to jump out of bed on Reveille.
“I was in the stables, used as a washroom, shaving, when I heard a noise, looked up and saw a doodlebug coming towards us.
“It was being shot at from behind by a fighter-bomber. I started shouting, “Take cover, take cover.”
“Then it hit the camp. The bomb struck the corner of a Nissen hut housing the soldiers. The blast took me off my feet.
“I picked myself up and wandered round to where the camp was and it had all disappeared. The huts were all mangled together.
“There were blokes bombed to pieces, ripped apart.
“For security reasons, it was decreed that it should be an active service burial in a mass grave in the cemetery of the nearby village of Lenham.
“The grave was dug during the day by Scots, Grenadiers and Coldstream Guardsmen.
“At night, by lantern light, the burial took place.
“Each soldier was wrapped in their blanket; those who could be identified had a label attached, with their number, rank and name.
“The names were recorded and placed in a sealed bottle which was placed under a wooden cross.”
The tragedy did not stop the remaining men of the unit - quickly reinforced - shipping out to Normandy just three weeks later on July 17.
Lenham has marked the tragedy every year with a special service at their graveside following the village’s annual act of remembrance in November.
And REME has maintained a close link with the village, providing Memorial Gates at the entrance to the cemetery and also an avenue of Linden Poplar trees along its approach lane.
This year, the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, Lenham Parish Council has decided to go a step further to recognise the long association between REME and the village by granting the Freedom of the Parish of Lenham to the Corps.
The event on Sunday, June 23, will be a day of spectacle with music from the Band of the Coldstream Guards and a parade by troops from 133 Divisional Recovery Company REME (Ashford) as well as from the 36 Engineer Regiment Workshop REME (Maidstone), 5 REME, 8 REME and 9 REME, and a platoon from the Guards Regiment and representation from the REME and Guards Associations.
There will be a formal inspection and a service of remembrance in the cemetery as well as a march-past with the salute taken by Sir George Jessel, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent. The Mayors of Maidstone and Ashford will also be in attendance.
Standards will be flown, and 133 Company REME will be bearing arms. The service will include the reading aloud of the names of the 52 soldiers who died and a wreath-laying ceremony. There will also be a display of military vehicles - past and present - in the village square.
The day will begin with the presentation of the Freedom of the Parish of Lenham to REME at 10.30am.
Meanwhile, the military personnel will have mustered at the Community Centre Car Park.
At 10.40am, they will parade along Groom Way and Old Ashford Road to the Dog and Bear pub in The High Street where the parade will halt for inspection.
The parade will then resume along Faversham Road to the cemetery for an act of remembrance beside the war graves.
At 12.20pm, the parade will return to the village square and then go past St Mary’s Church to dismissal at the community centre.
John Britt is chairman of Lenham Parish Council. He said: “The parish has a long-standing relationship with the REME.
“Over the years, this has grown to a point where, just before Covid, it was agreed to offer the freedom of the parish to the Corps.”
He said: “Sadly this had to be put on hold until now which, in the light of the events to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, seems a fitting time to achieve this ambition.”
