The Battle of Graveney Marsh, on the night of 27 September 1940 in Kent, England, was the last ground engagement involving an organized foreign force to take place on the mainland of Great Britain.

[1][2] The fighting took place between the crew of a shot-down German Junkers Ju 88A-1 bomber from KG 77 and a detachment of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, London Irish Rifles (1 LIR), in Seasalter on the north Kent coast.

When members of 1 LIR, billeted nearby at the Sportsman Inn in Seasalter, arrived at the crash site, the four German aviators were attempting to destroy classified equipment on board the aircraft,[3][4] According to some accounts, the Germans had armed themselves with machine guns previously fitted to the Ju 88 and a sub-machine gun.

(The latter was part of a standard survival kit, issued at the time to the crews of Luftwaffe bomber, patrol and transport aircraft).

[5][6] In September 2010, the London Irish Rifles Regimental Association marked its 70th anniversary by unveiling a commemorative plaque at the Sportsman pub.