I AGREE with everything Keith Robson wrote about the Stirling bomber that crashed near Shildon (HAS, Apr 18).

I was waiting at the St John’s bus stop with my mum when a Stirling bomber flew over us, narrowly missing the tower of St John’s Church. It crashed in a field at Four Lane Ends.

Talking about the rear turret might puzzle many people – the rear turret is on the top of the plane and is used for firing at enemy planes. It is not at the rear end. The rear gunners (the socalled tail end Charlies) are at the back of planes.

As the plane came over Brusselton, the rear gunners fell to their death as the back of the plane fell off.

The crew of the plane were killed and so were the crew they were training.

My wife and I moved from Shildon to Bishop Auckland in 1964, but even now in 2012 I think of myself as a Shildon lad.

Robert Percival, Bishop Auckland.