THE forgotten story of airmen – including a former council chairman - whose defeat of the German’s in Africa enabled D-Day to go ahead has been brought to light in a new book.

Historical author Chris Clark said the efforts of the light bombers in the RAF’s 55 and 223 squadrons have never been properly recognised.

Mr Clark, from Crook, County Durham, said the four-year campaign to push the Germans out of North Africa and Italy provided a sure footing which allowed D-Day to take place.

He said not removing the enemy forces from the likes of Egypt and Tunisia would have left the “soft-belly of Europe” exposed to invasion after D-Day.

Mr Clark’s book, Rommel Versus the Imperturbable Eighteen Aka The Twelve Night Intruders, covers the four years the squadrons spent providing air support to the Eighth army.

Mr Clark, a retired policeman whose father served in the squadron, said the bombers played a crucial role in destroying the German supply line thereby pushing them north and eventually back into Germany.

The author said: “It was incredible dangerous with a high casualty rate.

“There are many tales of them flying in formation only to see the next plane over blown out of the sky.

“But not only did they have to contend with combat, they were also living in the desert for four years.

“They were effectively nomads, sand was in everything, and they lived off bully beef and salt water tea.

“And yet what they did is largely forgotten.”

Mr Clark contacted twelve former members of the squadrons to collect their memoires for his book.

Navigator sergeant George Ferguson, who flew in six operations in September, 1944, went on to be chairman of Sedgefield District Council and was Tony Blair’s election agent in the 1983 campaign.

The book is available on Amazon.co.uk