My mother's account:
"I've been reading accounts of the 1940s Heinkel crash landing near 'The Old Barn' in Hildenborough... one account from a man picking hops at Meopham Bank. I was also picking hops there at the time (I was fifteen).
I remember glancing up and seeing the plane, its underside all alight, gliding along in front of me. The strange thing is, I don't remember hearing any noise from the plane or seeing any markings on it. But I do remember thinking "It's going to crash". But I can't remember any noise... even the hop garden seemed silent. It crash-landed in a field near The Old Barn, so it must have come down only seconds after I saw it. I couldn't see the wings, so it must have been quite far away; thinking about it years later, I realise that it must've been further eaway from me than I'd thought. I spoke to my younger brother some months ago, asking if he remembered it, which he said he did... he ran with some other boys and people from the hop garden towards it but they were turned back by the soldiers.
I never saw the plane when it was parked at 'The Half Moon' in Hildenborough".
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