HUNDREDS of former airmen gathered at a museum near York to unveil a memorial to a Second World War training scheme.
About 300 members of the Air Crew Association met at the Yorkshire Air Museum, in Elvington, yesterday for the official dedication of a commemorative plaque to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
It marks a plan during the war that saw about 300,000 allied aircrew trained at flying schools in Commonwealth countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia.
A plaque was unveiled in the museum's memorial garden by Sir Peter Marshall, who was a navigator in the Second World War and later chairman of the Common-wealth Council.
Ian Reed, museum director, said: "We are very proud to have worked together to produce this memorial to a unique piece of Common-wealth history. We are delighted that so many people have come to join us for this occasion, many of whom will have taken part in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan."
Messages of support for the project were received from the Queen and Tony Blair.
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