Friends of a Bradford airman, who was the sole survivor of a ‘plane shot down in Holland during the Second World War, have come forward with information about him following a Telegraph & Argus report yesterday.

Sergeant Thomas Little was captured by Germans after parachuting from a burning Lancaster bomber near the Dutch town of Kessel in July, 1944. He spent the rest of the war in a prisoner-of-war at a camp.

The rest of the seven-strong crew were killed when the aircraft, belonging to the 75 New Zealand Squadron, exploded.

Now a plaque dedication ceremony is planned in memory of the crew, and organiser Barrie Davies contacted the T&A to appeal for information about Sgt Little, or Tommy as he was known.

Mr Davies, who served with the Army Air Corps, has spent years researching the crew but has been unable to find out anything about Sgt Little, other than that he came from Bradford.

Now T&A reader David Inskip has revealed that Tommy, who lived in Allerton, worked as a welfare officer for the elderly and people with mental illness before his death from cancer in 1991.

“He left happy memories with colleagues and people he helped. He didn’t speak about the war but did say he’d had flight training in Ponca City, Oklahoma,” said Mr Inskip. “Tommy was a gentle, kind man, full of humour.”

Tom Beardmore also got in touch, to say that Sgt Little was a POW from July 21, 1944 to May 16, 1945.

“I was a close friend and worked with him for about 20 years,” said Mr Beardmore. “Sadly, he died after a short illness in April 1990. My wife and I acted as executors of his will and arranged his funeral as he had no living relatives.

“Until reading the T&A article I had no idea he was the sole survivor of an air crash. I think it is wonderful that a remembrance plaque is planned.”

The plaque, dedicated to the plane’s crew, will be unveiled in Kessel on Thursday, July 21, exactly 67 years after the crash. The service will be attended by dignitaries and relatives of crew members.

Mr Davies said: “It is sad that Tom died but from what we have heard he was a well-liked person. Tom was the crew member we knew the least about; until a week or so ago we only knew him as TG Little who we thought was a French Canadian (because he spoke French to the person who found him after the crash).

“It is good to hear that Tom made a success of his life and was so highly regarded.

“It took a special sort of man to volunteer for bomber flying duties; they knew the chances were high that they wouldn't survive more than five raids over Germany.”