BELGIAN officials are trying to trace relatives of a 26-year-old Torquay airman shot down during the Second World War.

Sergeant George Houghton was one of a six-man crew aboard a Wellington on June 16, 1941, when it crash-landed in the city of Hamont-Achel.

All six men died and their bodies were laid to rest in the local cemetery.

At that time, only one crew member was positively identified by the German authorities.

The local Belgian people paid tribute to the airmen's sacrifices, flowers were laid on their graves and crosses erected.

After the war all six of the bodies were identified, and they are now at the Commonwealth War Cemetery of Heverlee, Belgium.

On June 20, the Oorlogsherdenkingen RAF Memorial group will unveil a memorial plaque in Hamont-Achel.

René Winters, committee member of the group, is keen to hear from relatives of Sergeant George Houghton.

She said: "We hope to trace any family members because we would like to invite them to attend our dedication service on June 20.

"The service marks our work with this long overdue, but never forgotten, historical project."

Sergeant George Houghton was the second radio-operator and air-gunner aboard the Wellington from 103 Squadron.

He and his crew took off on the night of June 16/17, 1941, from RAF base Newton, Nottinghamshire, to bomb harbour installations at the Rhine in Duisburg.

René added: "In the target area the visibility varied from good to moderate. A thin ground fog hampered the accurate aiming for the bombing load.

"Because bomb-aiming was not yet accurate in 1941, not one Wellington could drop its bombs right on the target.

"As a result of this, civilian targets in the city of Duisburg were also hit and there were civilian casualties.

"The Wellingtons were caught in search lights and they encountered heavy flak. Beside that, they were attacked by several German night fighters.

"The Wellington went out of control and crashed at 2.25am. It is highly probable that the plane broke apart."

Anyone with information about Sergeant George Houghton should email René at rene.winters@virusfree.be