Our last meeting was on 9th July when Alex Ferris told us about ‘1917 – Bombs in Kent’. In a fascinating talk he outlined the development of flight in Europe, the German Operation “Turk’s Cross” (the first blitz on East London) and the appalling casualties suffered in Folkestone on 25th May 1917. Who knew that blind people were used as spotters at Dungeness, listening for Gotha bombers flying from Belgium, or that Brocks, the fireworks manufacturer, invented the tracer bullet? Or that the House of Saxe Coburg Gotha became the House of Windsor in 1917 as our royal family did not their name to be associated with an enemy plane bombing our country?

Our next talk, on Monday 10th September at 8pm in the Horton Kirby Jubilee Hall will be given by Malcolm Scott, on the Development of South Darenth before 1900.

Our 2018 schedule:
12th November            AGM & Short Talk followed by Wine & Cheese
2019
14th January                 Woolwich Women at War – Steve Hookins
11th March                   The Romance of London’s River – Tony Farnham
20th May                       The Kaiser’s War – Christoph Bull
8th July                           Lost Empires – the last days of Music Hall and Variety – Wilf Lower
9th September             To be confirmed but will be a talk by one of our members
11th November            AGM & Short Talk followed by Wine & Cheese

We will be launching the our new book on Horton Kirby and South Darenth’s war memorial and life during World War One at our November meeting. It will make an ideal Christmas present for family and friends.