Niece's joy at Dutch tribute to Black Country war hero

In the cockpit was 23-year-old rookie pilot John Smith, who lived in Hagley and went to school in Stourbridge.

Sadly, John's first operational flight would also be his last.

He and his navigator Kenneth Goldthorpe perished as the plane came down just yards from the young boys' home in the final year of the Second World War.

Details surrounding his death were sketchy.

His family were aware he had died in a plane crash but little else was known.

But the crash which caused John's death had a lasting impact where it happened in the village of Norbeek, close to the Belgian and German borders.

Seventy years on they were determined to remember the airmen who lost their lives on that fateful night - and equally determined that family members alive today should also witness their service.

So it was 'out of the blue' that Jenny Wilkins' phone rang last month as she sat in the same house her uncle John had lived seven decades earlier before going out to war.

She was just 14 months old when his Mosquito fighter plane headed towards ground over Norbeek.

"We were just sitting here at home as normal and the phone rang," the 71-year-old retired teacher said.

On the other end of the line was a Dutch woman based in England who was trying to track down family members on behalf of the villagers.

"She was married to someone in the RAF and happened to be from the village where the plane came down." she said. "She put me in contact with the organiser of the event over there."

Four weeks later Mrs Wilkins, who taught at the Redhill School in Stourbridge, found herself in the Netherlands, along with her sister Judith and husband Paul at a memorial service honouring her uncle.

The brother of her mother, John grew up in Hagley and was educated at the King Edward Grammar School in Stourbridge.

Unlike many others who were called up to serve their country, John volunteered for the cause.

He trained pilots in America and Canada prior to his doomed first operational mission.

Mrs Wilkins said: "We knew that he had been killed and we knew the date but the family never really talked about it much, I think my grandparents were very unforgiving that he had gone out there.

"All we knew is that he was shot down but we didn't know where."

So it came as a shock when she was informed a memorial service was being held to remember her uncle - and that people from another country knew more than her own family about how John came to meet his demise.

She said: "The whole village turned out, youngsters and the elderly, two sergeants from the RAF came, and the mayor.

"We were just thrilled. We didn't expect anything like that. They thought about him and did something to say this is where it happened.

"They were so interested in the family, everybody came up and asked and said 'sorry about your uncle' but it was a happy occasion.

"The ceremony was lovely, they took care of us.

"It was hurriedly arranged by local people and they were so welcoming. They are so grateful he avoided the village."

A breakfast buffet was arranged for their guests from across the North Sea and the family attended a Mass where the local priests praised the airmen in Dutch and English.

At the crash site lies a stone memorial fitted with a plaque marking the spot where the two men lost their lives.

A pear tree planted following the crash has blossomed into an orchard.

Also in attendance at the service were Victor and Harry Slender, now aged 77 and 82, back at the spot where the plane had crashed 70 years earlier.

Mrs Wilkins said: "Victor hadn't spoken English for 64 years but he was able to recount what happened after all these years."

He remembered their family being the first ones to approach the burning wreckage once the flames died down.

American soldiers who were in the area soon arrived on the scene and removed the bodies from the plane, which was loaded with bombs and hand grenades and radar jamming equipment.

It was a grim sight for children so young, and one that remains with the men to this day.

Mrs Wilkins said: "They went out afterwards to clear the ground, a lot of it was splintered all over the field.

"They collected the wood and burned it to keep warm, as there was rationing at the time

"To hear what happened from actual eyewitnesses who were there after all these years was incredible," Mrs Wilkins said.

John is buried alongside British colleagues who fell during the Second World War in the Netherlands.

Following the crash, John was posted as missing.

It was more than a year later before his mother and father were informed of his death.

Though the family now know how John Smith died, their remains an air of mystery about his final hours.

Records show he took off from RAF Great Massingham in Norfolk at around 10pm and crashed in the Netherlands six hours later.

Mrs Wilkins said: "The question is what happened after he left England because the fuel on board wouldn't have lasted for that journey."

She admits she is still amazed at the lengths the villagers went to for her uncle.

"It is very special that a small community like this one does all this for our uncle. We know what finally happened."