LONDON: Four Australian airmen shot down on a bombing mission over Berlin nearly 60 years ago will receive a full military burial in Germany on Tuesday.
Pilot Ivan Durston from Brisbane led the World War II mission to bomb Berlin from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire in the early hours of January 29, 1944.
But less than three hours later, at 3.25am, the Lancaster bomber was shot down 40km north of its target, killing all seven men on board, including three British crew.
They will finally receive recognition with full military honours in front of 10 members of their families, flying from Australia to attend the service at the crash site near Oranienburg, 30km north of Berlin.