HEROIC air gunner Norman Nuttall has finally been laid to rest 63 years to the day since his Stirling bomber crashed during a raid on Berlin.

Sgt Norman Nuttall, of Daisy Street, Blackburn, was 21 at the time of the tragedy, on May 11 1941. He was flying with XV Squadron above Holland when the plane was attacked by a German night fighter.

He, along with six others, were thrown from the plane as it crashed and their remains stayed there just a few feet beneath a field in Opmeer until an excavation earlier this year.

Only the pilot had a proper burial at the time but yesterday a military funeral was held for Norman and the five other crewmen.

All six crewmen were buried in a single coffin with a wreath and separate headstones at Bergen's general cemetery.

The service included readings by the New Zealand ambassador for the Netherlands, David Payton, the Venerable Geoffrey Allen and the RAF air marshal Philip Sturley.