A NEW memorial to mark the bravery of the crew of a Second World War RAF bomber will be unveiled next month.

The old weather-damaged plaque has been replaced in time to mark the 73rd anniversary of the crash of the Halifax bomber NA612 after it fell victim to a German night fighter on March 4, 1945, and its crew of seven, all but one of whom were Canadian, were killed.

The condition of the original memorial plaques containing the names of the crew and a description of what happened, had deteriorated.

Now, partly thanks to £500 from the locality budget of North Yorkshire County Councillor Peter Sowray, who represents the Easingwold division, a new granite plaque has been manufactured and will be unveiled at a ceremony on Sunday, March 4 outside the church gates in Brafferton at 11.30am.

Nigel Denison, secretary of the Brafferton & Helperby War Memorial Committee, said: "The present plaques suffered unforeseen weather damage and the money was raised for the new granite memorial which will last a lot longer. We are pleased to be able to unveil it on the 73rd anniversary of the crash."

The crash happened near the end of the war in the early hours of 4 March 1945. Halifax NA612 was returning from a bombing raid when it was attacked and shot down by a night fighter as it came in to land at Dishforth.

The plane went up in flames and exploded as it hit the ground near Brafferton. The crew were aged between 19 and 27.

Cllr Sowray said: "The deterioration of the existing plaques did not present a fitting memorial

to the brave Canadian and British crewmen who died. The replacement granite plaque will provide a permanent and fitting memorial."