AN aviation historian from Hungary is appealing for help to trace relatives of a North Yorkshire airman killed on a secret mission during the Second World War.

On July 4 1944, an RAF aircraft was shot down by a night fighter near the Hungarian village of Mezőcsokonya. It crashed killing the eight-man crew.

The plane was Handley Page Halifax from 148 Squadron on a secret mission. Hungary was part of the Axis, fighting on the side of Germans.

Their mission was to infiltrate four Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents in the country to make contact with possible resistance forces.

Prior to the aircraft being shot down, the agents had been parachuted in, but were soon captured – the mission was doomed from the start. Two agents were later killed in an Allied air strike.

The fate of the others is unknown.

In the last 23 years, aviation historian Gabor Nagy from Hungary has uncovered the full story of that fateful night in detail. He has found and interviewed several eyewitnesses and located the crash site, revealing hundreds of wreckage parts.

His idea is to create a memorial to the brave aircrew and agents.

Mr Nagy is interested in tracing any surviving relatives of the 22-year-old Flight Engineer, Pilot Officer Harold Pearson, who lived in Northallerton and may also have lived in Great Ayton.

He has been in contact with Northallerton residents Dorothy Young and author and historian Tony Eaton.

Mr Eaton said: “I have already traced one relative, we believe the family lived in Crosby Road during the war; there may also be a surviving sister who lives Darlington.”

Mr Eaton is also to make further enquiries into Pilot Officer Pearson’s omission from the Northallerton war memorial.

Anyone with information that can help trace relatives of PO Pearson can contact Mr Nagy by email at gabornagy42@gmail.com/