A SECOND World War serviceman’s dream of having his memoirs published has finally been realised more than 20 years after his death.

RAF wireless operator and air gunner Bill Kirkness, of Horsforth, flew on operations against Japanese targets in Burma and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in 1944.

Bill, who died in 1994, had dreamt of seeing his memoirs in print – but had been unable to find a publisher. Now his goal has finally been achieved with help from American Matt Poole, 61, who has co-authored RAF Liberators over Burma, subtitled Flying With 159 Squadron.

The book, with more than 50 black and white photographs, tells the story of Mr Kirkness, an “everyman” who did his bit in the war.

In total, Mr Kirkness flew 72 operations from India on two tours: the first in a B-24 Liberator bombing role – the focus of the book – and the second primarily on air-sea rescue assignments aboard Catalinas and Liberators.

After the war he owned a signwriting business and a hobby shop, Models and Militaria. He and his wife Marie lived in Horsforth until their deaths in 1994 and 2012.

Their son, Miles, died ten days short of his 15th birthday in 1971, and their daughter, Sue Olsson, now lives in Australia.

Mr Poole’s interest in Mr Kirkness’s story developed when he was researching the wartime history of his own mother’s first husband – Liverpudlian George Plank, who was also a wireless operator/air gunner on 159 Squadron. Mr Plank was shot down over Rangoon, Burma, in February 1944, and the crew of nine were posted as missing. Mr Kirkness also took part in the operation, and his recollections are in the book.

Mr Poole said: “I befriended Bill and stayed at his home at Brownberrie Walk in 1991, three years before his passing. Thrilled that I was interested in her father’s war career, in 2014 daughter Sue in Australia graciously sent me Bill’s memoir, plus his photos and a copy of his flight logbook.

“Upon first reading the memoir, I knew that with my input it would make a fabulous book on a grossly under-published topic – the air war over Burma.

“This is not a book about tactics or technology. Instead, it is the heartfelt, and at times heart-rending, offering of a thoughtful and dedicated everyman – just a bloke from Horsforth. He was fortunate to survive, unlike some of his crewmates and others with whom he trained and flew.”

After he retired in 2016 from his job as an analyst with the US Government’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Mr Poole began editing the manuscript and expanding it with historical detail. “My desire was to seamlessly match – and honour – Bill’s style and sensibilities; this was of extreme importance to me, because this was Bill’s memoir, not mine,” he said. “Bill is long gone, but I could almost feel his presence as I worked on his manuscript.”

In the foreword, Mr Kirkness’s daughter writes that she honours “the courage of all, including Dad, who faced the trials, and sometimes horrors, of the 1939 to 1945 war”.

The book is available from amazon.co.uk