Eleven veteran airmen from the United States Army Air Corps returned to RAF Glatton – the airbase from which they flew during the Second World War – to remember fallen comrades of the 457th Bombardment Group and share wartime memories.

They received a moving guard of honour from young army cadets when they arrived at the Yaxley Royal British Legion Social Club, in Yaxley, for a formal lunch on Sunday (May 25).

The airmen, now in their eighties, were accompanied by 32 family members of former servicemen, some of whom lost their lives in the war.

The men were killed or listed as missing in action between January 1944 and June 1945, while flying in bomber aircraft towards heavily defended targets in occupied Europe.

The group visited the village of Conington, where a new plaque in memory of the 336 lost comrades of the 457th Bombardment Group has been installed.

A special remembrance service was held at the village's All Saints Church, which is no longer in use, but was specially opened for the occasion by the Rev David Spencer, retired vicar of Farcet.

Speaking of the visit, James Bass, from Tennessee said: "I was here during the war and, by the grace of God, returned when others did not.

"It is so pleasing to see a fourth generation of young people who have not forgotten those dark days."

Former radio operator Mr Bass said his job was to communicate with bomber aircraft as they dropped bombs over Germany.

The 86-year-old was later awarded an Air Medal and a European Theatre Operations Medal for his service.

Yaxley cadets commander Lieutenant Brian Hayward said: "It is a privilege to honour veterans from the United States who fought with our nation side by side during the Second World War and, albeit briefly, became part of our community.

"Their sacrifice is important for young people to remember and one which should not be forgotten."

Yesterday, the veterans travelled to the American Cemetery at Madingley, near Cambridge, to join hundreds of other veterans in commemorating their fallen comrades who served during the war.

A total of 3,812 US servicemen are buried there and a Wall of the Missing is inscribed the names of 5,126 others who gave their lives, but whose remains were never recovered or identified.

The wartime base of the 457th Bomb Group, nicknamed The Fireball Outfit, opened at Glatton, near Peterborough, in January 1944 as home to the 748th, 749th, 750th and 751st squadrons of the 94th Combat Wing.

During the final 18 months of the war, airmen of the 457th Bomb Group flew 237 combat missions, losing 83 four-engined B-17 bomber aircraft in enemy action. Their last mission was on April 20, 1945, and the unit was disbanded in August that year.

RAF Glatton was sold in 1948, and is now a private aerodrome known as Peterborough Business Airfield.