HE is buried in a cemetery in Holland where the Lancaster bomber on which he was a gunner was shot down, costing the lives of five young men.

And on his grave is a touching inscription that reads: “Sleep on, dear son, on Holland’s breast. Your duty done, it was your best. Mum and Dad’.

But now a Dutch historian researching Bomber Command air crashes in SE Holland in the Second World War is trying to find out more about Albert William Cox, from Parkstone, Poole, who lost his life on that fateful night of May 22/23 1944, 15 miles west of Eindhoven.

The Lancaster had been on a raid on the Dortmund in Germany but was intercepted on its way home by a Luftwaffe nightfighter and shot down.

“The aircraft crashed near the Dutch village of Vessem which cost the lives of five young men,” said Adrian van Zantvoort.

“Three airmen managed to bale out and try to escape from captivity.

“After a few weeks of hiding in several houses in Holland and Belgium, they went into a cafe in Antwerp where they arrested by betrayal and ended up in Prisoner of War camps in Germany.

“Among the airmen killed was a 21-year-old air gunner named Albert William Cox, 1314241, the son of William and Florence Rose Cox of Parkstone in Dorset.”

With the help of Katie Heaton at Poole History Centre, Adrian knows that the Cox family lived at Runton Road, in Sunninghill, Parkstone and that Albert’s parents William and Florence (nee Medway) were married at Bedwelty in Wales in 1915. They had two children, Albert W Cox, born in Bedwelty in 1923 and an older sister Mary F Cox born in 1919.

Katie Heaton established that a Mary F Cox married an Alfred G Snook in Bournemouth in 1941 and had a daughter Frances N Snook, born in Poole in 1942. She also found that a Mary F Snook, born in 1919, died 11 years ago in North Somerset.

William, presumably Albert’s father, was still living at Runton Road in 1951 but, sadly, his wife Florence Rose died in 1946, aged 53.

“Albert rests at Eindhoven General Cemetery (War Grave Section) in a suburb called Woensel in Holland,” said Adrian, who would like to find out more information.

“Many of the relatives of those [who died when the bomber crashed] and also the former members still do not know what really happened with their beloved ones and sometimes they still don’t know where they are buried.” If you have any info please contact Adrian van Zantvoort, Waterlinie 427, 5658NM, Eindhoven,Holland or email a.zantvoort@onsneteindhoven.nl.