AN AIRFORCE veteran was the guest of honour at a ceremony to remember a fallen comrade whose resting place was not discovered for more than 50 years after his death.
Crawley RAF association chair Marcel Lescaut attended RAF Benson to remember Flight Lieutenant Duncan McCuaig who he served with in 541 squadron during World War II.
Mr Lescaut, 91, watched the ‘Ceremony to Re-dedicate the Spitfire Guardian’ in which his late friend’s name and flight number was immortalised on a replica aircraft.
Flt Lt McCuaig was on a reconnaissance mission over Germany when his Spitfire was shot down by notorious fighter pilot ace Robert Weiss in September 1944.
McCuaig managed to eject himself from his craft but tragically died when his parachute failed to open.
Buried by local Germans he was moved to a proper cemetery after the war but his name was misread as ‘McCraig’ and the British could not identify him.
For more than half a century the pilot was buried in a grave marked ‘Unknown Pilot’ in the War Grave at Sage, Oldenburg.
His family assumed he had died in the North Sea.
Yet thanks to the investigations of a German historian who uncovered the mistake, McCuaig’s daughter was tracked down and she was able to visit his resting place for the first time.
Sadly his wife died of cancer before the re-dedication took place.
Mr Lascaut said: “It was a proud day for the RAF. They went all the way to make sure the occasion was one that dear lady will remember all her life. They didn’t spare a thing.
“The daughter was overwhelmed, she was in tears. I went up to her to explain I was in the squadron with Duncan but that I wasn’t aware what had happened to him.
“I never expected to see something like this all these years after the war, it was fantastic. It’s sad that his wife never found out what happened because she passed away.
“It was terrible his parachute didn’t open. My wife was a parachute packer. I said to her I’m going to marry you so my parachute opens.
“It was great day for me but also quite sad. I left the air-force in 1946 and I’ve been in touch with friends in 541 squadron, and now they are not there and I missed them.”