A CANADIAN senator, whose brother was a member of Second World War airman Andrew Mynarski's crew, has backed The Northern Echo's Forgotten Hero appeal.

William Kelly's brother, Jim, was the last surviving crew member of the fateful flight from the Royal Canadian Air Force base at Middleton St George, near Darlington, in 1944, until his death in June, aged 80.

His brother, 78, a member of the Canadian senate, told The Northern Echo he was sure his brother would have supported the campaign to have a £40,000 statue built in honour of Pilot Officer Mynarski, at Teesside International Airport, formerly the air base.

The 27-year-old gunner, from Winnipeg, Canada, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for trying to save the life of his friend, Pat Brophy, on their blazing Lancaster bomber.

Jim Kelly, from Ontario, jumped from the plane and was found by French Resistance members, who helped him escape from occupied France to England.

His brother said: "I think it would be lovely to have a statue to Mynarski in England and I think Jim would have felt that too. What happened remained a very large part of my brother's life."

Jim Kelly, 20 at the time of the crash, became an accountant when he returned to Canada after the war, married and had two children. He remained in contact with the other surviving crew members for the rest of his life.

"This crew were very much a family," said Mr Kelly. "Jim loved the air and he loved the crew. They'd meet on a regular basis.

"When he was the only one left, he was in quite a bit of depression. I told him he should be proud of that fact."

* To make a donation, send a cheque, made payable to The Northern Echo's Forgotten Hero Appeal, to: Forgotten Hero Appeal, Newsdesk, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF.

Chance meeting of survivors after bomber crashed

A CHANCE meeting in a London pub was how Jim Kelly found out about Andrew Mynarski's incredible act of bravery.

Three months after their plane crashed over occupied France, the 20-year-old Canadian was unaware of the fate of his fellow crew members.

He had been found by the French Resistance after jumping from the blazing Lancaster bomber and they had helped him return to England.

Unbeknown to him, Pat Brophy, the man Pilot Officer Mynarski tried to save before plunging to his own death, had miraculously survived the crash and made his way to London with the French Underground's assistance.

"Jim was sitting having a beer and thinking about what happened when in walked Pat Brophy," Jim's brother, William, told The Northern Echo.

"Jim couldn't believe his eyes. The only change that Brophy went through was his hair, which had all turned white.

"They weren't looking for one another. Each believed the other was dead. Jim said he had been thinking about Brophy when he looked up and there he was. That must have been a wonderful reunion."

Pat told Jim how their friend Andrew had battled desperately to save him after he became trapped at the back of the plane.

Eventually, his flight suit ablaze, he was forced to bail out, saluting as he did so.

The crew's families had been told the men were missing and for months Jim Kelly's relatives had no idea he was safe.

"My parents and I were convinced that he was probably dead," said Mr Kelly. "When he finally got back to London, it was a day or two before he finally got round to thinking about contacting us. When he did, the relief was incredible."

It was Jim who broke the news of Mynarksi's death - and his bravery - to the hero's fiancee, Vickie, back in Winnipeg, Canada.

"He never forgot what happened," said Mr Kelly. "Like many people who went through the war, it was the most dramatic experience they ever had."