THE son of a Canadian airman is seeking information about his wartime exploits.

James Crandell is hoping readers in the North-East may be able to shed light on a mysterious photograph of his father, Thomas, which shows him wearing a wedding ring, despite being unmarried at the time.

While stationed at RAF Goosepool, now home to Durham Tees Valley airport, Thomas Crandell may also have played ice hockey with Canadian legend and hall of fame player Milt Schmidt, who was also serving at the airbase, and his son is hoping there may be photographs of this.

Mr Crandell was a member of a Halifax bomber crew in the RCAF “Moose” Squadron 419 which was stationed at Goosepool. The squadron was also home to Victoria Cross winner Andrew Mynarski.

Mr Crandell was shot down over Germany during his 21st mission in April 1943 and spent two years in prisoner of war camps, ending up at Stalag 357, in Fallingbostel. He died in 1988.

His son has unearthed a photograph, with the inscription “Fallingbostel 1945” on the back, which shows Mr Crandell on a motorcycle Unusually, his left hand is ungloved and he is wearing a ring on his wedding finger, despite not meeting his wife until 1946.

James Crandell said: “The motorcycle, probably stolen by this young “Luft gangster” – what the Germans called the US Army Air Corps – is a German military Hercules 125, something you wouldn’t see in Britain or Canada.

“So I think this picture was indeed taken in Germany and I know Tom had returned to England by VE day, never to return to Germany.

“What is odd about this picture is that on his ungloved left hand is clearly a wedding band.

“He didn’t meet my mother until 1946. Did my father have an English bride? Or was he just carrying around a ring he stole or traded for to use as some sort of currency? The picture looks a little staged to me.

“Why would he take off his left glove, if he had one, and why is the ring so obviously displayed?”

Mr Crandell is also interested in learning more about his father’s wartime ice hockey experiences. In his letters from the PoW camps he talks about playing the game there on New Year’s Day.

James Crandell has also discovered an old photograph of PoWs playing the sport and believes his father may be one of those pictured.

Tom also used to talk about playing with Schmidt, an NHL all-star player who was ranked Number 27 in the a poll of the 100 greatest ever players.

The Canadian airmen at Goosepool regularly used to visit Durham ice rink, many of them were NHL players, including Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer who formed the famous “Kraut Line”, which won two Stanley cups with the Boston Bruins.

After the war, Tom Crandell who is from Keswick, Ontario, took advantage of a scholarship offered to ex-servicemen and enrolled at the University of Toronto on a mining engineering course He went on to manage several mines in Canada and even served as deputy commissioner of mines in Botswana at one point. He coached minor league hockey throughout his adult life.

James Crandell, who lives in Red Deer, Alberta, added: “What I would like to find is photographs of the Canadian players or any other information about the wartime RCAF teams who played in Durham.

“I doubt he married an English girl, but I would be really interested in seeing any photographs of him at the time or find someone who knew him when he was at the base.

“I don’t think we can ever really know who our parents are, but I would like to find out more about this peculiar time in my father’s life. “ Anyone who is able to help Mr Crandell can email him at JCrandell@shaw.ca or jamescrandell@me.com