MEMORIES have been stirred following an appeal for RAF Bomber Command veterans to step forward and share their wartime stories.

Last month Kidlington history buffs Sandra and Pete Jones issued an appeal in the Oxford Mail for veterans or those that knew them to get in touch.

Calls flew in from Bomber Command fighters' family members and others who grew up during the Second World War.

For Bernard Greenberg, 87, who lives off Abingdon Road, Oxford, collating information on his brother-in-law John Berg - a Flying Officer with 550 Squadron - has been a lifetime pursuit.

He said: "I took it upon myself to try to keep his memory alive on behalf of my sister, who sadly passed away. "You can't spend your life mourning someone but it's very personal. It's my life. It's my sister's life."

His older sister Frances married John Berg in May, 1944 after meeting in her hometown of Grimsby.

Just one month later she received the devastating news that his plane had been shot down by enemy fire in Holland.

Mr Greenberg, who spent decades piecing together documents revealing the tale of his brother-in-law's demise, said: "It was a great shock - she didn't talk about it but she was happy for me to look into it."

Among piles of papers about 23-year-old Mr Berg is the original telegram dated June 18, 1944, which broke news of the attack, and photographs of Mr Berg's gravestone in Wisch, Holland.

More than 55,000 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were killed in the Second World War.

Mr and Mrs Jones hoped more people will come forward with information, which they will send to national soldier database charity International Bomber Command Centre.

David Cook, 86, who served in the RAF from 1948 to 1950, said he always felt an affinity with Bomber Command.

He recalled a Lancaster bomber landing abruptly in the makeshift Cowley Airfield in 1942, while he was a teenager.

He said: "They were all by themselves, just a little bit off-bearings for Abingdon.

"They took as much off it as they could, fuelled it, revved up very fast and let it go like a catapult; it went hell-for-leather across the field."

Doreen Kempton, who lives on the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire border, has a treasure-trove of documents on her uncle, Harry Young, of the 83rd Pathfinder Squadron.

The wireless operator and gun aimer took part in the first 1000-bomber raid over Cologne in May 1942 but was shot down and killed in August 1942.

Ms Kempton said: "Although I had been told about my uncle as I grew up I found most of these documents by chance some years after my mother died. He died two weeks after his 22nd birthday."

Support has also been offered by the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum's Matthew Smaldon, who has collected oral testimonies of up to 15 Bomber Command veterans.

He said: "Unfortunately as time goes on the number of people around who can give first-hand accounts is sadly declining - this is a worthy project."

If you are or know someone who was a Bomber Command veteran, call the Oxford Mail on 01865 425433 or email kieran.davey@oxfordmail.co.uk