A World War One fighter pilot who was shot down above the Western Front a hundred years ago will be saluted at a special service.

Church volunteer Stan Robinson has organised a commemorative service at St. John the Baptist Church, in Aldenham, on Sunday, February 11, to mark the centenary of the death of Second Lieutenant Peter Francis Kent, shot down in flames on February 6, 1918.

The event will also honour the fifty brave men of Aldenham who died during The Great War.

The story behind a plaque in the church, in memory of the young Royal Flying Corps (RFC) officer of No 3 Squadron, has puzzled volunteers and churchgoers for years.

But with the help of former RAF Group Captain Michael Peaker and other people, Mr Robinson has “painstakingly” pieced together Kent’s brief life story during an attempt to trace his family.

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force – which was established on April 1, 1918 – with the Royal Naval Air Service.

As a result, this church service will also welcome a number of guests along with the Standard of No 3 Squadron.

Those attending will include Air Commodore The Viscount Hugh Trenchard RAF, who is the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and grandson of the founding father and Marshal of the RAF, 1st Viscount Trenchard.

Peter Alderson, the son of Lieutenant A.G.D. ’Grey’ Alderson, who flew alongside Peter Kent that day, has also been invited to join the Aldenham bellringers on that morning, before the service.

Three of the Church’s bellringers lost their lives in World War One.

The congregation will hear how, on the afternoon of February 6, 1918, Lt.Alderson, Lt. William Dennett and 2nd Lt. Kent - led by Captain Charles Sutton - in their F1 Sopwith Camel aeroplanes, engaged six German Albatross aircraft in a deadly dogfight.

Years later, ‘Grey’ Alderson would pay a lasting tribute to Peter Kent by naming his son after him.

Peter Alderson recalled that his father only ever had two pictures on his dressing table, one of his parents and the other of Peter Kent.

Peter Alderson also recalled his father saying that one of the first things he did when he returned home from France in December 1918, was to visit to Mr and Mrs Kent in Aldenham.

When he arrived there, he was presented with a photograph of the plaque they had placed in the Church.