Brother of missing WW2 airman reunited with his friend in Brentwood thanks to Recorder
A Second World War veteran has been reunited with the brother of a childhood friend who died almost 70 years ago, thanks to the Recorder.
In October, Lancaster bomber rear gunner Jim Fisher, from Brentwood, was helped to lay a wreath at the Bomber Command memorial in Green Park after fundraising efforts by the 452 (Hornchurch) Squadron RAF air cadets got him there.
After the Recorder highlighted the story, Brian Motley, from Warley, wrote a letter saying that he believed Jim and his brother Kevin may have known each other.
Kevin was presumed dead after going missing following a non-operational flight from his RAF base in Suffolk in August 1944.
Brian, 83, a journalist from Warley, said: “My brother was among many young Brentwood lads who served in the war.
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“He was presumed dead after a cross country training exercise. It was a stormy night and it is feared the plane may have crashed at sea.”
On Wednesday the pair met up and discovered that the pair had also known each other as children before the war.
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Jim, 87, of Cleves Avenue, said: “It was very good, and in actual fact his brother and I were school kids in the area together.
“We used to fight in the street, like schoolboys do, when we both lived near Brentwood station.”
Kevin and Jim both went on to join the RAF from Brentwood although they served in different squadrons.
Jim was a Lancaster bomber rear gunner in the 149 squadron, based in Norfolk, while Kevin did the same job from the Suffolk base.
Brian added: “They were in the air training corps together and I also do remember seeing him about when I was younger.
“It was wonderful to see Jim and reminisce about people we knew in the old days. And thanks to the Recorder for all your help.”
