One of the 14 Leyland Leopards bought in 1976. Only a year old, they were sur- plus to requirements from a park and ride service in Nottingham.
On the buses, over the years
AMAIDSTONE man has documented the ve- hicles and services operated by the borough council between 1974 and 1992. The book, authored by Canterbury-born au-
thor Eric Baldock, who moved to the county town in 1965, features pictures of around 240 buses against the ever-changing urban back- ground of Maidstone and other locations. The many vehicles operated by the coun-
One of the Atlanteans hired from Ipswich. This shot, taken in 1989, shows one en route to Maidstone Hospital, but without the benefit of a destination board.
cil are also pictured in south-east and central London, as well as places as far-reaching as Burnley, Portsmouth and northern France. Maidstone Borough Council Transportwas formed in 1974 from Maidstone Corporation Transport following a local government reor- ganisation. In 1986, Boro'line Maidstone was created
as an arms-length company to undertake MBCT’s operations. The company had a brief London opera-
tion, but this was sold to Kentish Bus fol- lowing financial difficulties. After a period
of administration, Boro'line Maidstone was sold to private company Maidstone & District in 1992.
“Maidstone Borough Buses 1974-92” is published by Amberley Publishing.
Above: The Maidstone Mountaineer was bought in 1983 and was used to connect with other municipal services in Reading and Southend. Below: one of a number of broken-down Ti- tans, found dumped outside the depot.
Left: a Volvo Ailsa which appeared in 1976. Above: a Ford Transit taken over from Denis Hire Cars. Right: a Scania in dealer stock white, which came in 1988.
The Kent VC hero and the story he could never tell
“THE Germans are here, goodbye!” Those were the words of Victoria Cross hero Donald Dean to his commander as enemy soldiers broke into his trench in 1918. The son of a brickmaker, Dean lied about his age
to enlist in 1915 and worked his way up from a private to acting captain in the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment. He was severely wounded by machine gun fire at Passchendaele in 1917, but returned to France in 1918 where he won his VC near the city of Lens. Ordered to hold a captured and isolated trench,
Dean fought off five German counter-attacks, per- sonally killing four of the enemy in hand-to-hand fighting. Dean also served inWorldWar II and witnessed
the fall of France in 1940. Seventy years on, the account tells how Dean
led a group of poorly-armed Pioneer troops to the port of Boulogne. Fighting off German tanks, Dean’s Pioneers fought alongside the Irish and
46 Town
Welsh Guards, but when the order to evacuate Boulogne was given, the Pioneers were refused entry onto ships earmarked for the Guards and were left behind. Dean ordered the Guardsmen to leave their ri-
fles so his men might at least continue the fight. Eventually he managed to signal a passing British destroyer for help. Under enemy fire andwith the ship overloaded
with survivors, Dean was the last man up the gangplank. When he later questioned the with- drawal of the Guards, he was warned never to speak of it again. Author Terry Crowdy, from Medway, who spe- cialises in military history, has edited Dean’s let- ter and diaries, never previously published, adding additional notes and material from official reports. The result is a moving, often amusing and inspiring portrait of a Kentish hero. “Donald Dean VC” is published by Pen and Sword Books.
To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330
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