Hunt for families of aircrash dead

Ralph Morin was just 19 when he was killed

A Canadian whose great uncle was killed in a wartime aircrash in mid Wales is searching for the relatives of two of his colleagues who also perished.

Todd Yates has found two of the families of the five dead, but another two remain undiscovered.

Mr Yates visited the scene of the tragedy for the first time in May.

Since returning home, he has decided to erect a plaque at Waen Carno, near Llanidloes, scene of the 1942 accident.

I am searching for relatives of these two brave men to put faces to their names Todd Yates

The 34-year-old made a pledge to his family a year ago to find out where and how 19-year-old pilot, Flight Sergeant Ralph William Morin, died.

His search led him to an area of peat bog where the pilot's Armstrong Whitworth Whitely bomber came down on 9 May, 1942.

"I'm looking for the families of Sergeant Donald Haydn Jones, the wireless operator/air gunner of the aircraft," Mr Yates said.

"He was 28 and is buried in Ferndale cemetery in the Rhondda.

"I've discovered that his parents were Charles and Hannah Jones, of Maerdy in the Rhondda."

Mr Yates added: "The other man is a Sergeant Douglas Morton Sellars.

Todd Yates' quest led him to mid Wales in May

"Not sure of his crew position, but he was aged 27 and is buried at Brookwood Memorial cemetery, Surrey.

"His parents were Percy Douglas and Dora Sellars, of Solihull, near Birmingham.

"I am searching for relatives of these two brave men to put faces to their names.

"Their names like every other veterans, living or deceased, should not be forgotten for they fought for our freedom in the time of war.

"My final quest once I have found all the families will be to build a memorial or purchase a plaque and place it at the crash site."

Waen Carno is so remote that Mr Yates required a detailed Ordinance Survey map and a local guide to find it in May.

Emotional

Searching the internet at first for information last year, Mr Yates then turned to the Canadian government for help and it provided the father-of-one, from Vancouver, with his great uncle's service record.

It is still unclear how or why the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber - on a night navigation exercise - crashed.

Visiting the remote crash site in May, Mr Yates said: "I was so determined to see the site, although the only way to get there was by foot.

"It was strange, but I actually felt something when I was there. I can't describe what it was, and I'm not an emotional person, but it was some sort of connection with the past - I can't really describe it."