THE day when happiness turned to heartache for airmen returning to their homes after dark years of the Second World War will be among the tragedies recalled on Remembrance Sunday.

The final loss of life among the French bomber crews who once flew on their dangerous missions from a North Yorkshire base took place long after hostilities had ended in Europe in May, 1945.

For months the French squadrons within the RAF had continued to patrol the skies over Germany to ensure there were no pockets of resistance.

But in October 1945 it was time for the French squadrons to depart from Elvington, near York, and return to their native country as the basis of the new French Armée de l’Air.

On October 20, after a ceremony at the base, 346 Guyenne Squadron, flew off to Mérignac, near Bordeaux, reaching their destination without incident.

Days later, on October 29, it was the turn of the second French squadron at Elvington, 347 Tunisie, to fly home. They took to the skies with scarcely any ceremony at all and in poor weather conditions – and then came the final, ironic tragedy.

At 11.56am, Halifax RG561 of Sous Lieutenant Wellard came into difficulties, lost altitude and crashed into a field near Escrick, just 15 miles from Elvington.

German and Italian prisoners of war working in the field came rushing to the rescue. Six of the crew survived, but Wellard and another airman, Sergent Prades, were killed in the impact.

Elvington is now the home of the Yorkshire Air Museum and Allied Air Forces Memorial where the 70th anniversary of that tragedy will be reflected at the Remembrance Sunday commemorations.

Two French veterans, Jean Billaud and André Hautot, will be among the French contingent attending to lay wreaths remembering their compatriots.

The service takes place at 11am at the French Memorial in Elvington village and another service will take place at the Allied Air Forces Memorial at 1.30pm with military representatives from Britain and allied nations.

Several British veterans of D-Day and the Normandy campaign will also be attending and will be presented with receive highest award, the Legion d’Honneur at the event.