A FORMER York and Pocklington schoolteacher who died in action during the Second World War is among airmen to be honoured by a special memorial.

A Spitfire propeller has been restored and mounted on a cairn of Cornish granite and will be displayed inside the entrance of RAF Portreath in Cornwall next month.

It will act as a memorial to those airmen who gave their lives while serving at the base from its opening in 1941 until the end of the war in 1945 - the first of its kind at the base.

Among those honoured will be Albert Phillips, a classics teacher who worked at Pocklington School before joining Archbishop Holgate's School, Hull Road, York, in 1933.

Mr Phillips, who was born in December 1908, was in charge of the Air Training Corps at the school and later volunteered for flying duties.

In 1942 in Canada he met up with four of his former York pupils - Richard Swale, who now lives in Cornwall; Gerald Leonard, whom Mr Swale believes is still living in the York area; and Peter Bird and Bryan Little, who were both killed during the war.

The group nicknamed their teacher Pop, although Mr Phillips was actually just a few years older than them.

Mr Phillips became a navigator, but he was killed when his aircraft was shot down during a mission from RAF Portreath.

Mr Swale, 79, is now planning to attend the official unveiling of the memorial, which takes place during a special service on March 14.

He said: "I don't know who else will be there. There can't be many of us left. Pop Phillips was killed as he was flying from RAF Portreath so this is for his benefit. We all met by chance in Canada. There were five of us then, but by the end of the war there were only two of us left.

"I would really like to hear from Gerald Leonard again, the last I heard he was living in the York area."

John Harris, headmaster of Archbishop Holgate's School, said he welcomed the memorial. He said: "These men gave their lives and it is only right that they should be remembered in this way. Our school already has two memorials, one for pupils and teachers who died in the First World War and one for those who died in the Second World War, including Mr Phillips."

Updated: 12:10 Wednesday, February 27, 2002