A RESEARCH team have found the crash site of a Stirling bomber from World War Two (Code EE872) near Ludwigshafen in Germany.

They have traced the families of five of the seven crew and are now seeking information on the remaining two, who have links to Greenford and Acton.

Henry Saunders and Douglas Guest  were aboard bomber EE872 when it crashed on the night of September 5, 1943.

All crew members except one (he parachuted out of the aircraft seconds before the crash) were killed.

The private research team, working with an archaeological group, are planning an excavation before establishing a memorial, as they have done at other crash sites.

Spokesman Erik Wieman said: “We want to make this almost-forgotten site visible again and [to recognise] the sacrifices that were made.

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“The families usually do not know what happened or where exactly. We want to change this and tell them about our plans for a memorial.”

The families he is looking for are those of:

Air Gunner (649405): Sgt Henry Saunders, married to Joyce Saunders, of Herne Hill. It is believed she remarried and became Joyce Fines, of Greenford.

 F/Engineer (1603378): Sgt Douglas Guest, son of William and Charlotte Guest, of 31 Buxton Gardens, Acton.

Mr Wieman’s team have already contacted the families of the pilot, three airmen from New Zealand and the only survivor of the crash.

Details of their work on www.ig-heimatforschung.de

Mr Wieman can be reached on erik.wieman@gmail.com