The house was then used in the Second World War to accommodate airmen and was used as the headquarters and Mess for officers flying from the nearby RAF West Malling Airfield. Inside the Georgian wine cellar (of the house), 'the Twitch Inn' was established. This was so named because of all the nervous tics caused by constantly looking out for enemy aircraft, of the pilots. Names of the pilots are still etched on the walls of the cellar. Many famous air aces have frequented Douces Manor, including Sailor Malan, Stanford Tuck, Guy Gibson (a Dambusters pilot) and Wing Commander John ‘Cats Eyes’ Cunningham (a top RAF night-flight pilot) with his navigator Jimmy Rawnsley. The Twitch Inn is now designated as a Heritage Centre by the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and is let to the Parish Council on a peppercorn rent for 125 years. The centre opens up to 20 times a year and displays artefacts currently in the possession of the Malling Society, including Guy Gibson's uniform. Beechcroft Developments (current owners of Douces Manor) donated up to £5,000 to get the fund-raising for the heritage centre.