Members of a bomber crew killed when their plane crashed on Garrowby Hill, near Stamford Bridge, were remembered today - exactly 57 years after their bomber came down.

The six trainee airmen, their pilot instructor and the driver of a milk lorry with which they collided, died on February 7, 1944, after setting off from Rufforth Airfield, near York.

They were remembered by the airfield's present occupants at 10am today - the exact time the crash happened.

Richard Boddy, president of York Gliding Club, was joined by other members to lay a wreath at a memorial built at the scene of the crash.

Club chairman Richard Smith said: "It is important to remember the origins of this airfield back in the grim days of war, and those who flew from here and did not return.

"Sadly, there were many and we felt the need to show our respect and admiration in this way." The airmen, who were all aged in their late teens or twenties, were returning in a Halifax bomber following a navigation exercise. They were flying in poor weather conditions, with fog on the hills.

Updated: 10:22 Wednesday, February 07, 2001