IT was a freezing morning on Sunday, February 11, 1940, when the RAF Hudson plane carrying four young airmen came down.

Three of the Hudson's crew were killed instantly as the plane hit the hillside close to Great Ayton, near Middlesbrough, at 4.15am.

But one of the crew lived to tell the tale and the story of the fatal crash 63 years ago, at the height of the Second World War, has been told for the first time in a book by local historian Ian Pearce.

The book will be published on Wednesday to coincide with a memorial service and plaque unveiling at the site of crash, on Easby Moor, close to a famous monument to Captain James Cook.

The men had been flying from Thornaby Aerodrome on a bombing raid when the Hudson crashed into the hillside.

The three who died were Flying Officer Tom Parker, 21, of Bedford, Sergeant Harold Bleksley, 24, of Cardiff, who was engaged to be married, and Corporal Norman Drury, 23, of Norfolk, who had a girlfriend in Middlesbrough.

But fellow crew member Atholl Barker survived with minor injuries and made his way to a nearby farm, where Billy Hodgson, then ten years old, and his older sister, Ellen, watched Mr Barker coming to the house. Ellen, described the airman as being covered in dust and looking like a ghost.

Atholl Barker was eventually killed on a raid over Germany in 1943.

The only other survivor was Polly, a pigeon belonging to Middlesbrough fancier Eddie Hartas and whose descendants are raced today by Eddie's son, Gordon. Despite the bird's two broken legs, Mr Hartas took her back. She became a celebrity and was mentioned in the meritorious performance list in the book Pigeons in Two World Wars. Pigeons were carried on all RAF planes so messages could be sent in an emergency.

The book details the memories of the children of the village at the time, who tell of their shock at finding body parts near the crash.

"Little was known about it because local newspapers weren't allowed to tell of it at the time due to wartime restrictions," said Mr Pearce, a retired engineer who has lived in Great Ayton since 1969. "It is extremely gratifying to now be able to tell the story."

The accident was caused by ice on the plane's wings.

* Lost on Easby Moor, by Printability Publishing, of Wolviston, near Hartlepool, costs £9.95 and is available at local bookshops or by calling Mr Pearce on (01642) 722964 for information.