On a clear spring night in 1944, Alan Mitcheson witnessed a spectacle that was to haunt him forever.

From the darkened skies above his bedroom window, a Halifax bomber came hurtling into view.

The most terrible noise, like a car backfiring, shattered the peace, and the aircraft began plummeting to the earth.

Transfixed, Mr Mitcheson, then a boy of 11, held his breath for a few suspense-filled seconds until a rumbling explosion shook the foundations of his home.

Although he did not realise it at the time, Mr Mitcheson, 69, of Silksworth, in Sunderland, had witnessed one of the most heroic acts of World War Two.

The Halifax, piloted by 22-year-old Cyril Barton, had set out from Selby for a raid on Nurenberg but before getting there, had been badly damaged by gunfire.

With an engine and communications failing, three crew members had already bailed out when Mr Barton, from Surrey, decided to complete his mission.

He was on his way home, using the stars to navigate, when the aircraft was hit by ill-targeted friendly fire.

On one engine and without fuel, he managed to steer it clear of all but one of the houses on Brick Row, Ryhope, in Sunderland, saving the lives of his crew and dozens of sleeping residents.

But in doing so, he sacrificed his own life, and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour.

Today, 58 years after the incident, in March 1944, a lasting tribute was paid to Mr Barton when a new housing estate near the crash site was named Barton Park.

Mr Mitcheson, along with Mr Barton's three sisters, his former navigator Len Lambert, and members of his squadron, watched RAF Leeming squadron leader Rodney Burges unveil a plaque there.

After campaigning for a tribute to the pilot's heroism for 22 years, Mr Mitcheson said the memorial was a dream come true.

"It's something that has been with me for all these years, and I'm absolutely delighted with it," he said.

Mr Barton's sister Joyce Voysey, 68, from Surrey, said: "He always used to say 'if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well', but he was the last one to expect glory. "Caring about other people was natural to him.

"To think that people still remember him after 58 years is amazing."