Today marks the 75th anniversary of one of Maidstone’s most tragic wartime incidents.

On October 10, 1940, in the midst of the Battle of Britain, a Hurricane fighter flown by Sgt Harold Henry Allgood crashed into houses in Albion Place.

The pilot died, as did two adults and six children, all from the same family.

There will be a commemoration of this sad incident, with a brief service of remembrance held in the street at 3.55pm today, the exact time of the impact.

Descendents of the two families who suffered casualties will attend along with Robin Green, trustee of the Battle Of Britain Memorial Fund, and Tony Parslow, a trustee of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum.

Sgt Allgood was on a routine patrol at 20,000ft with other Hurricanes when his plane suddenly plummeted to earth.

No one knows for sure, but it is assumed there was a problem with his oxygen supply and he blacked out.

Witnesses said he appeared to try to level out just before hitting the ground, but it was too late.

The house belonged to 29-year-old Doris Woods, who was there with her baby.

Her mother Elizabeth Wooding was also staying at the house with Mrs Woods’ five youngest siblings, aged from six to 18.

They were only there after they had been forced to evacuate their own house because of an unexploded bomb nearby.

All were killed. It meant that in a single blow Mrs Wooding’s husband Arthur had lost his wife, six children and his only grandchild.

The Woodings did have two other adult children, who were not in the house at the time.

The daughter of one of those children, Susan Batchelor, will be at today's service along with Mark Ward, who is the first cousin twice removed of the pilot.

Mr Ward, 54, a teacher from Norfolk, has organised the get-together after researching his family history.

He said: “It will be the first time relatives of the two families have come together since the war.

“Remarkably I have also been put in touch with an eye witness who saw my cousin come down, who will be there also.”

Sgt Allgood’s body was carried out of the wreckage wrapped in a parachute and later buried in his home town of Cambridge. The Wooding family lie in Maidstone cemetery.

The crash site was not redeveloped until the 1970s, when a DVLA office was built there.

A number of parts from the Hurricane were recovered and are on display at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Folkestone.