WWII bomber crew buried

The crew were given a full military funeral

The crew of a World War II bomber, who were missing for almost 60 years, have finally been laid to rest.

The six young airmen from Lancaster bomber ED 867 lay undetected in a German field after being shot down during a bombing raid to Berlin.

A seventh crewman, Pilot Officer Sidney Griffiths, was discovered dead in woods soon after the plane from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire went down in January 1944.

The remains of his friends were eventually unearthed by air enthusiasts three miles away from the woods in 1999 and identified over the following two years.

'Brave and valiant'

On Tuesday the crew were reunited in the Berlin War Cemetery and buried with full military honours.

RAF Group Captain Nigel Vaughan-Smith said: "I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to say on behalf of the RAF a farewell to these brave and valiant comrades who sacrificed their lives for us so many years ago."

Three Britons and four Australians died when the Lancaster, from 467 Squadron of the Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF), was shot down.

The RAF airmen who died were navigator Flight Lieutenant Fry, from London, engineer Sergeant Francis Aver, from Goole, East Yorkshire, and Pilot Officer Griffiths, from Cardiff.

Australians crew members pilot Flight Lieutenant Ivan Durston, wireless operator Pilot Officer Robert Ludlow and gunners Flight Sergeant Phillip Gill and Flight Sergeant Jack Sutherland, were also buried at the ceremony.