Shropshire pilot's family hope to find body at last

The discovery raises the possibility that his body will at last be recovered.

Mrs Christine Childs, who was just five when her father went missing, and her brother Douglas Stewart, who was three, had always believed that the aircraft had come down in the North Sea. The body of their father, also called Douglas Stewart, was never found.

But thanks to recent research by two sisters whose grandfather was among the other crewmen killed on that night of October 6, 1944, the crash site has been located near Varrelbusch, about 45 miles west of Bremen, which was the target for the raid.

"It was a huge shock, but also it was a relief after all those years," said 75-year-old Mrs Childs, of Monkmoor, Shrewsbury.

The field where the plane came down has been earmarked for new housing and a dig has begun which could potentially lead to the recovery of the bodies of 29-year-old Flight Lieutenant Stewart and three other missing crewmen who were never found.

"I know they have found parts of the plane, and I'm hoping they can find the front end, which is where my dad and the rest of the missing crew would have been. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they dig deep enough to find it."

Her younger brother Douglas, who lives in Southport, said: "When I heard that they had found the crash site of the plane I had very mixed feelings – very sad, and very happy that at last we know now where he is after all this time. I'm getting a bit emotional now.

"I want to go over while the dig is going on, but I don't want to go early. I would rather be there when they finally find something, and then maybe we can put a bit of closure to it."

The dig which began amid international media attention this month will ensure the site is safe, small parts of the aircraft have been found, as well as a piece of parachute and bullets – and also a fragment of bone.

Watching the early excavations were sisters Julie Barton and Debbie Bartlett, granddaughters of Ronald Pascoe Barton, who was the flight engineer on the aircraft, Lancaster PD214, of 106 Squadron, based at RAF Metheringham in Lincolnshire. His body too is potentially in the wreckage and the sisters had made an appeal to try to find other relatives, to add weight to their desire to ensure the site is treated sensitively and there is a memorial erected to the crew.

The bone fragment was discovered just before they left and Debbie said it could be a breakthrough in their quest to discover the fate of the missing crew.

"Laboratory tests will follow and potentially DNA sampling," she said.

Mrs Childs says that at the time her father went missing the family were living with her auntie in Greenfields, Shrewsbury.

"My mother was in an awful state. Apparently she sat up all night and wouldn't go to bed, my auntie told me."

Douglas said that the information that came from the Ministry of Defence was that their father's plane had crashed in the North Sea.

"I was born in 1941 and so was about three when my father's plane crashed in October 1944. I think I can remember him, but it could be like a myth.

"My mother had a lot of photographs and letters, but unfortunately she died in 1996 and about six months before that she put them all in the dustbin, thinking time goes on and that he was not coming back, and it was time to bury the past.

Douglas said: "My mother, Vera, was a Shrewsbury girl. Her maiden name was Forgham. I believe my father was born in Glasgow. She met him when he was stationed at RAF Shawbury.

Julie said a number of Shropshire Star readers had come up with details of the Stewart family in response to their appeal and she and Debbie wished to pass on their gratitude for their help.