A plaque has been made in honour of an airman who fought in the longest air battle in the Second World War, and whose remains were only located 23 years after he died, following a campaign in the Telegraph & Argus.

It was presented at Bradford Polish Club yesterday to Teresa Warszylewicz, who remembered Antoni Ulicki as a lodger in her parents’ home in Bradford in the 1960s and 70s, by its designer Jim Hartley of Bradley, near Skipton.

Mrs Warszylewicz, of Bradford, is hoping to have the plaque placed at Scholemoor cemetery near the Garden of Remembrance where Mr Ulicki’s ashes were scattered after his death, aged 71, in July, 1986.

She said: “It's wonderful to at last acknowledge Toni. He was one of the brave men and women who helped win our freedom in the Second World War and he deserves remembering like this. I'm so grateful to Mr Hartley, his friend Peter Whitaker and the Telegraph & Argus for helping me find where his ashes were scattered.

“Now we have to find an appropriate place at Scholemoor where the plaque can be placed. I lost track of Toni when he left my parents' home and I’ve often thought about him over the years.”

Mr Hartley, who with Mr Whitaker, of Cross Hills, Skipton, instigated the installation of a monument next to the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Bradley in 2007 to seven Polish airmen who died when their Wellington bomber crashed nearby in 1943, said he was approached by Mrs Warszylewicz to see if they could help.

“Peter investigated and found that Antoni had been awarded the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest decoration for courage and the Distinguished Flying Cross,” said Mr Hartley.

“I was fascinated by his story and felt he should be recognised.

“Like his fellow Poles who died at Bradley, he fought for the freedom of his own country and for the UK.”

The plaque is 1ft square and contains the Polish airforce eagle, the name of his squadron, 304, and details about his date of birth and death.

The rear gunner and his fellow crew were honoured after surviving one of the longest air battles in their Wellington bomber of the war. They were over the Bay of Biscay, off the French and Spanish Atlantic coasts, searching for German submarines when they were attacked and spent almost an hour fighting off three German Ju88s. The crew limped back to England on February 9, 1943, with the bomber riddled with bullets. Mr Ulicki was the 167th Pole to win the DFC — only about 180 were awarded – and was wounded and the co-pilot and front turret gunner were both badly injured.