RAF bombing pilots who took off from Downham Market, West Norfolk laid to rest 79 years after crashing in Netherlands during World War Two mission to Berlin

A team of RAF pilots shot down during WWII after taking off from West Norfolk have finally been laid to rest.

Five British and two Canadian men were on board Short Stirling bomber BK716 when it was shot down in the Netherlands on March 29, 1943.

The bomber had taken off from Downham on a bombing mission to Berlin, but crashed close to the North Sea - near Oost-Vlieland in the Netherlands.

The men's remains were discovered alongside the wreckage of the plane in Lake Markermeer, near Amsterdam, in 2020.

Remains were few, according to the UK Government, and it was impossible to assign them to individuals.

However, Dutch authorities and local historians were able to trace surviving relatives of the airman on board - and a full military burial ceremony was held on Wednesday (September 28), 79 years after they died.

The find was part of the National World War 2 Aircraft Recovery Programme of the Netherlands.

The team of pilots included Flying Officer John Frederick Harris RAF, Flying Officer Harry Gregory Farrington RCAF, Flying Officer John Michael Campbell RAF, Sergeant Charles Armstrong Bell RAF, Flight Sergeant John Francis James McCaw RCAF, Sergeant Ronald Kennedy RAF, and Sergeant Leonard Richard James Shrubsall RAF.

Durham Constabulary officer Sgt Paul Mawson, who helped Dutch authorities during the hunt for two of the crew who were from that area, said: "It was really nice to receive the recognition, but the most important thing to me is that these young men can be laid to rest with their families around them – and to be able to stand alongside the families at that emotional moment is a genuine honour."

A memorial to the airmen was unveiled in the Netherlands earlier this year.