Tony Barker (left) and Ford Rowney died in the crash

Flt Sgt Thomas (Tony) Barker, 20, was killed along with Sgt Ford Rowney in the 1941 crash, but their families were never told where they died.

Research on a crash site in Bedfordshire has revealed they died near the village of Husbourne Crawley.

The plane was returning from a bombing mission over Kassel in Germany when it became lost and crashed.

Site excavated

Sgt Barker's sister, Maryon Evans, of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, said: "We were told he went on a bombing expedition in Germany and had died in a crash."

Aviation researcher Michael Robinson from Bletchley, who spoke to eyewitnesses and excavated the Bedfordshire site, managed to identify the two victims.

"I used information from the Public Records Office to find out who had died and was given permission to excavate the site.

"We traced the family via the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and informed them of the facts of the case," he said.

Sgt Rowney, 23, a pilot from Arley in Warwickshire, was the second airman to die in the crash.

The crew were flying in a Handley Page Hampden twin-engined bomber based at RAF Swinderby in Lincolnshire.

A memorial service is planned at the site of the crash for 9 September this year.

Mr Robinson said a search was underway for two other crew members - known only as Sgt E. Morgan and Sgt J. Mitchell - who survived the crash.