A MAN who spent 20 years tracing the relatives of fallen crew members of two Second World War bombers who died in the same crash that killed his father will feature in a documentary.

David Mole, from Darlington, was only seven weeks old when his father, a radio operator, was killed in a crash between two Allied Halifax bombers 14,000ft over Rocroi, in rural France, near the border with Belgium.

Mr Mole, 66, started visiting the town 20 years ago, talking to the locals and trying to piece together what happened to the British plane and the Canadian bomber it collided with, and tracking down the relatives of the other 14 crewmen, one of whom survived.

He managed to get permanent memorials erected to the airmen, and invited the relatives of all but two airmen he was unable to track down to the unveiling.

The Discovery Channel documentary, to be aired tomorrow night, follows the journey and examines what is left of the crash sites.

The programme takes a dramatic twist when it is discovered that a massive bomb may still be buried beneath the crash site as the two Halifax bombers had been fully laden with more than 14,000lb of bombs and primed to devastate the German city of Duisberg.

Although the crash happened on October 18, 1944, the body of Mr Mole’s father lay undiscovered until 1948. Mr Mole spoke to the man who found his father’s body on one of his many visits to the town, as well as other locals who had found parts of the wreckage.

It is believed the crash happened because of the volume of aircraft in the sky at that time.

Mr Mole said: “Remembrance is very important – not so much that they died, that is sad, but it is remembering what they did.

Without their efforts, we would all be in a very different Europe.

“They did their bit for freedom.”

He said documenting what had happened was important, and added: “So little was known. You were told nothing when it happened.”

He said his search had been long, but worth it, and that he would continue to look for the remaining two Canadian families.

He said: “I found every family of the British plane and five of the seven from the Canadian one.

“We had people from five of the British families and two of the Canadian families at the memorial service. It was very interesting.

None of us had met before. It was an absolutely fantastic day. I have had nothing but thanks from the families.”

􀁧 War Digs will be screened at 10pm on The Discovery Channel.