THE son of a Second World War pilot has visited a memorial in Surrey which honours his hero father.

Wing Commander Richard Bunker's final action was to steer his out-of-control Stirling bomber away from a village, so saving the community.

Villager Bill Lindsay researched the incident and campaigned to erect a memorial to the seven-man crew who saved his village of Windlesham, Surrey.

Despite months of effort Mr Lindsay could not contact Wg Cdr Bunker's next of kin but the pilot's son, Tony Bunker, was eventually found by The Northern Echo.

Now Mr Bunker, 62, of Acklam, Middlesbrough, has made the pilgrimage south with his wife Patricia, to see the memorial himself and spend time with the man who pieced together the story of his father's final moments.

He said: "I didn't know the full story of the crash and since I first spoke to Bill it has been an emotional time.

"My wife and I have come down here to visit my father's grave and see the memorial. It really has been just amazing. I will take the greatest of pride in coming back to the memorial service in April.

"Our two sons, one of whom lives in Toronto in Canada, also hope to be there. What Bill and his friends have done is absolutely tremendous."

Thrice-decorated Wg Cdr Bunker, aged 25 when he died in April 1945, had been on a short journey with his crew when his plane developed a fault and became engulfed in flames.

Instead of bailing out, the pilot and crew stayed on board to attempt to direct the plane away from the village, despite having extremely limited controls.

Richard Bunker was from London but met and married Stockton woman Stella while stationed at RAF Thornaby. His son was aged five at the time of his death.