ON the evening of June 12, 1944, a crew of young airmen set out in a Lancaster bomber from the Royal Canadian Air Force base at Middleton St George, near Darlington, on what was to become, for one, a fatal mission to France.

Although his colleagues eventually returned to their families and lives in Canada and England, Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski, 27, never went home.

He died after battling to save the life of his friend, rear gunner Pat Brophy, who became trapped in the Lancaster's glass-domed rear turret when it was hit by a German fighter plane.

Brophy miraculously escaped uninjured after the plane crashed in a field in the Somme region of France.

But his friend, who was eventually forced to bail out after failing to free Brophy, his flight suit on fire from the waist down, could not survive his extensive burns.

When Brophy finally made it back to England, with help from the French Resistance, he told his superiors the story of his friend's courage.

Mynarski, he said, had saluted him before reluctantly jumping from the Lancaster.

Brophy said: "He said something. Even though I could not hear, I knew it was 'Good night, Sir!'"

The incredible story made Mynarski a hero in his home country of Canada, with a school, a lake and even an electoral ward named after him.

In Britain, he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the country's highest military honour

But in the North-East, other than a memorial stone at the St George Hotel, at Durham Tees Valley Airport, formerly the air force base, there was nothing to commemorate his valour.

When The Northern Echo came across Mynarski's story -and set about trying to change that -the response in this country and Canada was immediate.

We aimed to raise £40,000 to have an 8ft bronze statue of Mynarski built at the airport, and Prime Minister Tony Blair was the first to give his support.

As we launched the campaign, he said: "This memorial will rightly commemorate the heroism of one extraordinary man.

"But by celebrating his bravery, it will also remind everyone who passes through the airport of all those who risked and sacrificed so much."

The Royal British Legion, the Royal Canadian Air Force and veterans' associations on both sides of the Atlantic backed the appeal, as donations flooded in.

Members of the Royal Air Forces Association, in Blackhall, Hartlepool, gave £2,000, while other groups and individuals made donations, all of which were gratefully received.

Each of the six local authorities with shares in the airport gave £1,000, and the airport pledged £5,000.

The money that flowed into The Northern Echo office meant sculptor Keith Maddison could start preparatory work on the statue at his Northumberland studio.

Meanwhile, The Northern Echo set about tracking down those whose lives had been most touched by Andrew Mynarski.

It was a highly charged moment when the air gunner's former fiancee, Vickie Werbicki, now an 83-year-old grandmother living in Winnipeg, told how proud she was the campaign had been launched.

Equally touching was the support for the campaign from Colleen Bacon, Brophy's daughter, and her plea that the statue be seen as a memorial to all those who fought for freedom.

The appeal crossed the age gap, with pupils at Middleton St George Primary School, near the airport, and the Andrew Mynarski VC School, in Winnipeg, forging links with one another and launching educational projects inspired by the campaign.

Thanks to the involvement of Middleton St George school, The Northern Echo was able to apply for a grant to the Heritage Lottery Fund. This week, the fund confirmed that The Forgotten Hero appeal was to receive £50,000, to add to the more than £26,000 already raised.

The total means The Northern Echo has enough to commission the statue in bronze and to benefit the school with books and other equipment.

Betty Amlin, 79, of Sedgefield, County Durham, whose Canadian husband, Jimmy, 82, served in the same squadron as Mynarski, is one of those most pleased by the appeal's success.

She wrote to Northern Echo columnist Mike Amos last January, bemoaning the lack of recognition for Mynarski at the airport. She said last night: "I am overwhelmed by what has happened, I really am. It is my 80th birthday soon and this is the best present I could have hoped for."

* Read the full campaign background at www.north easthistory.co.uk

Daughter's pride at statue unveiling

THE moment when Colleen Bacon unveils the statue of Andrew Mynarski is likely to be an emotional one.

No doubt the daughter of Pat Brophy, the man who Pilot Officer Mynarski bravely fought to save on board the flak-hit Lancaster bomber over France, will be thinking about her late father and the horrific events that led to the death of his best friend on June 13, 1944.

Ms Bacon, who lives in Toronto, Canada, was tracked down by The Northern Echo last October, when she gave her wholehearted blessing to our Forgotten Hero campaign.

Although her father, who lost all his hair after he was thrown, uninjured, from the wrecked plane, never spoke to her about that terrible night, she pieced together the story from newspaper articles and history books.

When asked to fly more than 3,000 miles to the North-East to perform the unveiling on June 4, she was delighted.

She said: "I would be most honoured to unveil the Andrew Mynarski statue. My father would be thrilled."

Moments after Ms Bacon uncovers the 8ft sculpture, watched by Second World War veterans who served at the airport when it was a Royal Canadian Air Force base, a Lancaster bomber will perform a flyover above the new terminal building.

A Canadian military band will entertain the crowd, which will include relatives of Mynarski's Lancaster crew and local dignitaries. The event will be open to the public and it is hoped scores will attend to remember a once-forgotten hero.