THIS week’s historic new Anglo-French defence agreement has sparked old memories at the Yorkshire Air Museum, near York.

A day after Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy put pen to paper on a deal to share military resources, the Elvington-based museum wound back the clock to remember an alliance from yesteryear, when the nations rallied against a common enemy.

Today marks the 66th anniversary of an Anglo-French attack on Germany in the Second World War during which aircraft from Elvington, near York, were lost.

On November 4, 1944, five Halifax aircraft and 35 French airmen stationed at Elvington were lost flying alongside the RAF to Bochum on the River Ruhr in what became known as the Bochum Raid.

Photographs of some of the 2,000 French airmen stationed at Elvington during 1944/5 are on display at the air museum.