Aviator Amy Johnson: Service marks 75 years since her death

Amy Johnson died after her aircraft ditched in the Thames Estuary in 1941

The 75th anniversary of the death of the English aviator Amy Johnson has been commemorated with a service close to where she was last seen alive.

She was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. She died when her plane crashed into the sea off Herne Bay on 5 January 1941.

Searches off the Kent coast failed to recover her body and the aircraft.

A service celebrating her life was held by Herne Bay Pier, where members of her family floated a wreath in her memory.

An information board about Johnson, who was born in Hull in 1903, was unveiled at the entrance to the pier last year.

A life-size bronze statue of the pioneering pilot, who was 37 when she died serving her country, has also been commissioned for the seafront.

The circumstances surrounding her death remain a mystery, but it is known that she had taken off alone from Blackpool Airport to deliver an RAF aircraft to Kidlington airbase in Oxfordshire for the Air Transport Auxiliary.

The flight should have taken 90 minutes, but four-and-a-half hours later her plane ditched in the Thames Estuary, 100 miles off course and 12 miles off the coast of Herne Bay.

Vessels in the area at the time witnessed the crash, but were unable to rescue her.

The remembrance service was held at the entrance to Herne Bay Pier

A wreath in memory of Amy Johnson was laid at sea

The remembrance service, led by the Reverend Martin Belgrove of Herne Bay United Church, also officially launched a fund raising campaign to complete the bronze statue.

The sculpture will show Johnson dressed in flying clothes, striding forward, adjusting her goggles and looking to the skies.

The Amy Johnson Herne Bay Project said it would be unveiled by bi-plane pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor, who is currently attempting to become only the second woman to fly single-handedly from the UK to Australia, following a similar route to Johnson.

Amy Johnson's nieces, Susan Crook and Judy Chilvers, said the statue would be "a great lasting tribute to her and all her achievements".