Manston’s role on D-Day, 6th June 1944
On this day, 6th June 1944, known as D-Day, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline forming the largest amphibious attack in history....
Category: Aircraft
USAF F-86D from Manston ordered to fire on UFO – May 20th 1957
Secret files are released In October 2008, a number of previously secret UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) files concerning UFO (Unidentified Flying Objects) were released to the public. They had...
Dambuster Bouncing Bomb Tests at Reculver and Manston
In May 1943, a top secret weapon was used against dams in the German Ruhr valley in an attempt to cause catastrophic damage to the enemy war machine. It was...
No.600 Sqn Bristol Blenheim I crashes at Manston – 11th March 1940
No.600 Sqn’s Blenheim L6682 piloted by F/O Anthony Henry Hamilton Tollemache took off from Manston for a searchlight co-operation exercise. On completion, while approaching the flare-path at 2320hrs, the aircraft...
Spitfire Prototype K5054 maiden flight from Eastleigh airfield – 5th March 1936
Not directly related to Manston at the time, but the birth of another aircraft closely linked to Manston’s later history. The first test flight of Supermarine’s Type 300 K5054 prototype...
The Valentine’s Day ‘Battle of the MTB’ – 14th February 1943
In the channel a Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) had been disabled near the French coast between Dover and Cap Griz-Nez after carrying out operations overnight around the French ports. The...
