AT Britain’s darkest hour, he gave his life in service of his country.

But now, more than 70 years on, his grave lies forgotten and unloved.

Flying Officer Oswald St John “Ossie” Pigg is a Battle of Britain hero.

He made the ultimate sacrifice when his Spitfire crashed to earth following a dogfight with a Nazi Messerschmitt in the skies above Kent on September 1, 1940.

The 22-year-old’s aircraft crashed into Elvey Farm, near Ashford, and he died a day later.

Today, the farm is a hotel and its bar bears a plaque in FO Pigg’s honour. It was unveiled by his niece Stephanie Haigh last August, in a proud ceremony attended by representatives of FO Pigg’s 72 Squadron, Battle of Britain veterans and decorated air force chiefs.

But FO Pigg’s final resting place, in an offshoot of St Oswald’s Church’s graveyard, in Durham City, bears no such grandeur.

The cemetery itself is little known, despite standing in the shadow of Durham University’s new Palatine Centre headquarters, and finding FO Pigg’s headstone requires a trek through an unkempt area of weeds and overgrown grass.

Why FO Pigg is buried there remains a mystery.

One theory goes that his father, a clergyman based in Northumberland, was seconded to St Oswald’s during the war. Others point out that he shares his Christian name with the city centre parish church.

FO Pigg was born in Jarrow and attended the Royal Grammar School, in Newcastle. He joined the RAF in March 1937. In June 1940, he shot down a German dive bomber over Dunkirk before crash landing at Gravesend. He emerged slightly wounded.

Two weeks before his death, he shot down a Messerschmitt.

Pat Woodward, an 87-year-old former RAF pilot who lives in Durham City, went in search of his grave after reading about last year’s memorial ceremony.

He says the cemetery and FO Pigg’s grave should be better cared for and is keen to discover why the pilot was buried where he was in Durham.

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