THE LIEUTENANCY OF KENT –
YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT – AND TRIBUTE TO WARTIME HEROINE

TRIBUTES were paid to a wartime heroine at the Celebration of the Achievements of Kent’s Young People – Past, Present and Future at the County Showground, Detling, on Saturday.

Young people from all over Kent and Medway took part in a showcase of youth activity including performances by rock and jazz bands, theatre groups, and demonstrations of first aid, fencing and martial arts.

The event began at the memorial to the former RAF Detling at the Showground with the unveiling of a new plaque by the Lord Lieutenant, Allan Willett CMG, and the laying of a red, white and blue posy by his wife Anne.

The plaque commemorates the heroism of Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) Corporal Daphne Pearson, who rescued Pilot Officer David Bond from his burning, bomb-laden Anson aircraft at RAF Detling in May 1940, and became the first servicewoman to win the George Cross.

After the war she moved to Australia, where she died in 2000. The pilot also survived the war and went on to form the internationally-renowned helicopter services company that bears his family name. He died in 1977. His son Stephen and grandson David flew in by helicopter for the ceremony.

The Lord Lieutenant said that in this 70th anniversary year, he will be touring Kent airfields that bore the brunt of Luftwaffe attacks during the battle of Britain – including Eastchurch, Gravesend, Detling, Rochester, West Malling, Manston, Lympne and Hawkinge – in July to lay wreaths in memory of the fallen.

The youth event that followed the tribute to Daphne Pearson was the highlight of the Lieutenancy’s main focus for 2010, hosted jointly with Kent County Council and Medway Council, demonstrating a shared commitment to the County’s young people.

Demonstrations of youth activity were followed by a formal ‘thank you’ tea party reception hosted by the Lord Lieutenant, the Chairman of Kent County Council, Mr Bill Hayton, and the Mayor of Medway, Councillor David Royle.

The Lord Lieutenant told guests: “I have every confidence that all here today – and especially our young people – will not be found wanting as they take our great County into the future.”

The Lord Lieutenant, Allan Willett, and his wife Anne, paying tribute to Daphne Pearson, the first servicewoman to win the George Cross. With them are the son and grandson of the pilot she saved, Stephen and David Bond.

Hannah Walker (15), a member of Sheppey Aviation Explorer Unit, from Sheerness, is congratulated by Mrs Anne Willett on the Gilt Cross for Gallantry she won for saving her friend during the Minster College heating duct collapse.

The Lord Lieutenant with treasurer Scott Greenwood and instructor Catherine Gandolfi, of Gravesham Fencing Club, who were teaching youngsters fencing skills.

Cub Scout leader Michaela Payne, from St Luke’s, Maidstone, briefs the Lord Lieutenant and his wife on Kent Scouts’ planned eco-friendly youth activity and development centre at Lower Grange Farm, Sandling, Maidstone.

The Lord Lieutenant and Mrs Anne Willett with the new Chairman of Kent County Council, Mr Bill Hayton, and the Mayor of Medway, Councillor David Royle.