A LANCASTER bomber flew over the Bomber Command Memorial in London on Sunday to honour the brave young airmen who fought and died for their country in the Second World War.

Proudly wearing his medals, Holybourne’s own war hero, Cecil ‘Pop’ Chandler, was at the memorial in Green Park were he joined around 20 fellow Bomber Command veterans, their relatives and the public for the annual service, led by Canon Brian Lucas and organised by the RAF Benevolent Fund, the RAF’s leading welfare charity and guardians of the memorial.

Bomber Command was said to be one of the “deadliest groups” in which to serve during the Second World War. Of the 125,000 aircrew who flew in Bomber Command, more than half (55,573) perished - almost double as many as the size of the RAF today.

Despite their heroism, described by Sir Winston Churchill as “the means of victory”, at the end of the war in 1945 Bomber Command was not given an official memorial.

It wasn’t until 2012 that the Queen unveiled the Portland stone memorial in Green Park, following a £6.5m appeal to build it.

Remembering his comrades on Sunday, Warrant Officer Cecil (Chick) Chandler - ‘Pop’ to his friends – was captured on camera by the Daily Express with the memorial behind him.

Having served in the RAF for 36 years, from 1942 to 1978, his thoughts turned to the war years when, as a flight engineer, he flew with 15 Squadron and later 622 Squadron on Stirlings and Lancasters. He completed 28 operations, which included an ill-fated raid over Nuremburg in March 1944, when his aircraft was badly damaged by enemy fighters.

In April of that year, he and his crew were involved in another raid over Dusseldorf in Germany. They were hit, two of the men were killed, and the aircraft heavily damaged, but they limped back to crash land in England.

Often “too busy to be afraid”, Mr Chandler told The Express: “I am so glad this memorial is here now and people today remember what we did.”

According to friend Dave Andrews who, with daughter Sally, put ‘Pop’ forward in 2016 for the French Legion d’Honneur medal, which is presented to allied service men and women who helped liberate their country during the Second World War, and who took him to Sunday’s Bomber Command ceremony, while disappointed when the Duke of Cambridge had to dash off before shaking his hand, Pop was made up when celebrity guest Carol Vorderman came over and gave him a big kiss!