Ever since he baled out of his stricken Halifax bomber over Berlin in 1944, Reg Wilson has vowed that he would one day return to find the remains of his comrade-in-arms John Bremner, whose body was never found.

Now, after more than 60 years, Mr Wilson, a former navigator, has managed to track down the wreckage of the aircraft, known by her eight-man crew as Old Flo, in thick undergrowth near Berlin, and to recover Sergeant Bremner’s remains. It means that his friend can finally be buried with full military honours, having lain undiscovered since the end of the war.

The bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire after dropping its bombs over Berlin on June 20, 1944. Mr Wilson jumped from the burning aircraft, becoming one of four crew members to survive.

He was captured by Germans along with his surviving comrades after parachuting to safety. But despite the hardship he suffered as a prisoner of war, he spent six decades dreaming of locating the crash site to find Sergeant Bremner.

Mr Wilson, 85, of Chigwell, Essex, returned to Germany two years ago — after an initial trip in 2005 to meet a German journalist — and successfully found the remains of his friend, who died at the age of 21.

He was able to locate the scattered wreckage with the help of metal detectors. Sergeant Bremner will be buried on Thursday at a cemetery near Berlin after a DNA test confirmed his identity.

Marjorie Acorn, 89, from Newcastle upon Tyne, will also travel to Berlin to see her brother finally laid to rest. Mr Wilson, who became a management consultant after the war, will travel with a fellow survivor, John Bushell, to the Heerstrasse War Cemetery to pay their last respects.

“It’s only right John is honoured,” he said. “People these days don’t realise the sacrifice made by the people of my generation. Thousands of good men, like John, lost their lives. It must not be forgotten. It will be an emotional, but a happy day.”

Mr Bushell, 84, who retired from the Civil Service in 1984, said: “My abiding memory of John is singing our hearts out together at a local piano bar in York. I’ve always felt uneasy that his body wasn’t found. It wasn’t right. He was a war hero who gave his life for his country, and deserves a full burial.”

Mrs Acorn was thrilled that her brother had been found. “I have always had him on my mind all these years, and used to worry that he would never get a proper burial. It will be a very emotional occasion.”

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