May 1918), carried out by a number of Gothas, eliciting perhaps the most ferocious barrage from the ground defences the town had ever seen. The local newspaper, the East Kent Gazette, reported: "The first of these duels occurred about an hour after the raid had been in progress, and probably this machine was caught while on its way to London. It was engaged by a daring aviation officer while at a great height. The British airman attacked his opponent so fiercely that the German was forced down to a lower height, and ultimately, to the joy of the onlookers, the Gotha burst into flames, seemed to break in two and came down piecemeal, all aflame. The wrecked machine and the three occupants fell by a farm. Two of the Germans fell into marshy ground and their bodies were deeply embedded in the mud. The third man's head struck a wall and was shattered like an eggshell. All three bodies were removed to a local aviation establishment. The fall of the burning Gotha was seen for miles around." The second Gotha was surrounded by British fighters shortly after, returning from a successful raid on London. Donald John Dean VC OBE of Sittingbourne was awarded the Victoria Cross for deeds carried out in France in 1918. His ashes are interred in the family plot at St John the Baptist Church, Tunstall, Kent. As a result of the number of soldiers blinded during the war, the Kent Association for the Blind was formed in Sittingbourne in 1920. Present day Sittingbourne and its consumed suburb of Milton today is a growing town, with much recent expansion by way of housebuilding in the former chalk and brick clay works digs. Expansion is attributable to the town's train line links to London, some 60 minutes away by high speed rail and easy access to the A2, A249, M2 and M20 (see Transport). Paper manufacture at Kemsley Paper Mill was the area's largest employer. Much of the surrounding Kentish countryside is good farming land, and being southerly in the UK many varieties of fruit are grown nearby, with this part of Kent being particularly famous for apples and cherries. Fruit preserving and packing are hence large employers, while new industrial and retail parks provide additional employment and services. The current MP is Gordon Henderson (Conservative Party). Economy The local clay was suitable for making bricks, and North