FRENCH war veterans who set up a memorial in their country to once-forgotten hero Andrew Mynarski have praised a campaign to see him commemorated in the North-East.

An 8ft bronze statue of the Canadian Second World War air gunner, who died trying to save the life of his friend Pat Brophy aboard a flak-hit Lancaster bomber, will be unveiled at the weekend at Durham Tees Valley Airport.

The 27-year-old's incredible bravery occurred on a mission over France, which set out from the former Royal Canadian Air Force base at Middleton St George, near Darlington, which is now the airport.

The Northern Echo's Forgotten Hero appeal, launched on the 60th anniversary of the fateful flight last June, raised the £40,000 needed for the sculpture, plus extra money to help a local school.

Andre Coilliot, 75, honorary president of veterans' organisation Souvenir Francais, in Arras, near to where the Lancaster crash landed, said his age prevented him making the journey to England for the unveiling.

But he said: "I shall be with you this day in my mind."

His branch of Souvenir Francais helped set up a small memorial to Mynarski, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism, at the plane crash site in Gaudiempre, in 1983.

"Every year, I organise a pilgrimage to this memorial," said Monsieur Coilliot. "The sacrifice of this airman was never forgotten by us."

He said members of Mynarski's crew and their relatives had visited the well-tended memorial in France over the years

Mynarski was found by the French after the plane crashed, but died soon after of terrible burns. Pat Brophy miraculously survived.

Brophy's daughter, Colleen Bacon, is travelling from Canada to perform the unveiling, to take place at 11am, on Saturday, at the airport's St George Hotel.