A SON seeking information about his father's time with the French resistance during the Second World War is celebrating finding the woman at the centre of his search.

Dave Blackett, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, made his breakthrough after he appealed for information about the mystery French woman in a Suffolk newspaper.

The woman, who is now 66 and living in Ipswich, Suffolk, contacted him to help him with his quest for information about his father, RAF veteran Harry Blackett.

He was part of a crew from 138 squadron from RAF Tempsford, in Bedfordshire, forced to bail out of a Lancaster bomber during a mission over southern France on May 9, 1944.

After evading capture by the Germans, Sgt Blackett spent several months with the French resistance near the town of Oradour-sur-Glane, the site of one of the bloodiest massacres in France.

With colleagues, Sgt Blackett was involved in sabotage missions against the occupying forces and was hidden from the Germans by resistance members.

For most of the time, he lived in a barn in the small village of La Bucherie, near St Saud, where the woman's family supplied him with food.

After returning to England, Sgt Blackett refused to speak of his ordeal. He died in Bishop Auckland aged 51, in 1974.

The woman, who does not wish to be identified, was six years old when Sgt Blackett stayed with her family but Dave Blackett, 57, is amazed she still has clear memories of his father.

Now he plans to travel to Ipswich to meet her.

He said: "I know where he was for a lot of his time now. I know where he stayed.

"It's absolutely brilliant. The house where my dad was is still there.

"They were all in danger. She was told never to mention anything about him being around.

"She said on one occasion my dad was given some food and had to go and sleep in the woods for a couple of nights.

"She remembers my dad going in for a meal each night. There was a major fear if the Germans caught my dad that they would be shot as well."