Families and servicemen gathered to pay their last respects

The remains of six servicemen, including Norman Nuttall from Blackburn, were discovered during an excavation of a Dutch field last year.

A military burial was held for the Second World War bomber crew in the town of Bergen.

Members of the RAF's Queen's Colour Squadron were at the service where Sgt Nuttall was finally laid to rest.

'Tremendous shock'

Sgt Nuttall's stepbrother, Kenneth, said: "I only learned that his remains had been found quite recently and it was a tremendous shock."

Mr Nuttall, from Mevagissey, Cornwall, said he knew his stepbrother had been shot down, but not the exact location.

He said: "I'd wondered about it for a long time and did think he might have bailed out over the sea.

"I am still trying to come to terms with this news - I don't think I've quite reconciled myself to his body being found."

Single coffin

The remains of five other airmen - three from Britain and two from New Zealand - were discovered during excavation in the area.

It also uncovered parts of the RAF crew's Stirling N3654 aircraft.

Tuesday's burial is in line with the families' wishes that the men be given a full military burial on the anniversary of the crash in May 1941.

All six crewmen will be buried in a single coffin with a separate headstone each at Bergen's General Cemetery.

Memorial to be unveiled

They will be laid to rest near the grave of aircraft pilot Wing Commander Herbert Dale, from Preston, Lancashire, whose body was found shortly after the crash.

The people of nearby Opmeer, the site of the aircraft crash, will later unveil a memorial to all seven airmen.

The Stirling N3654 of Number 15 Squadron was on its way from RAF Alconbury, Cambridgeshire, for a raid on Berlin on the fateful night when it was shot down by a German night fighter.

It crashed into a field 500 yards from Opmeer, near Bergen, killing all seven men on board.

As well as Sgt Nuttall, the British officers were from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire; Gillingham, Kent and Stroud in Gloucestershire.