A Brentwood war veteran is set to pay his own tribute to the men of Bomber Command when he takes a special trip next month.

Jim Fisher, 86, was a tail gunner on the Lancaster Bomber during the Second World War. Mr Fisher was unable to travel to Green Park for the unveiling of the Bomber Command memorial last Thursday – so his friends at 452 (Hornchurch) Squadron Royal Air Force Air Cadets made sure he was there in spirit.

Ann Ferguson, a member of 452’s civilian committee, presented a photo of Mr Fisher during his time in service to Prince Andrew – and collected some of the poppies distributed during the Lancaster flypast.

“The poppies gathered will be made into a tribute,” said 452’s pilot officer Vince Ferguson, “and all the cadets at 452 Squadron are undertaking a series of sponsored activities to fund a trip to the memorial at Green Park to enable Mr Fisher to place this tribute to his fallen colleagues himself.”

The money raised will also fund a trip for Mr Fisher to the RAF Museum at Hendon, where there is a Lancaster exhibited.

Mr Fisher, of Cleves Avenue, flew with 149 Squadron during the war. Prior to his RAF service, he had been an air cadet with 1483 Squadron in Brentwood.

As a civilian, he worked as an undertaker in Brentwood and then at a Havering crematorium. He and his wife Irene were married in Hornchurch, where Mrs Fisher lived, at the end of the war.