Crowds descended on a holiday park to pay tribute to American airmen who died when their plane crashed during the Second World War.

Members of the armed forces, air cadets and military enthusiasts joined family members of the crew of B-17 Flying Fortress 44-6133, which collided with another B-17 called the Heavenly Body II, and hit the water just off Allhallows beach, on June 19, 1944.

Its crew of nine were just 15 minutes away from their base following their first combat mission, during which their aircraft had been severely damaged by German anti-aircraft fire, when the tragedy happened.

WATCH: Noel Tognazzini and Jeanne Cronis-Campbell unveil the memorial plaque at Allhallows Holiday Park

To coincide with the 75th anniversary, Allhallows resident Mitch Peeke raised over £600 for a memorial plaque and information board to be installed at Allhallows Holiday Park to commemorate the eight men from 44-6133 who died.

They were unveiled at a ceremony on Saturday by Jeanne Cronis-Campbell, daughter of Theodore Chronopolos, the sole surviving airman of 44-6133 and Noel Tognazzini, the nephew of Cecil Tognazzini, the only crew member whose body was never recovered.

Theodore Chronopolos remained in the military for 30 years following the incident and eventually retired to the island of Nahant, Massachusetts.

In 1998, Derby resident Geoff Burke was researching the crew of 44-6133 after finding a airman who shared his surname, John Burke, was also on the plane.

Although there was no familial connection between John and Geoff, he wrote to Theodore's local paper in Massachusetts, appealing for him to get in touch.

Eventually the pair met in 2003.

Theodore died in 2012 at the age of 87 but Geoff remains in contact with his only daughter, Jeanne.

He said: "It's all about fate, because if it hadn't been for the crash here, then I wouldn't have met these people."

Speaking about her father, Jeanne said: "When he finally retired, he worked on his PhD in psychology, and a part of me thinks that perhaps that was part of his search to understand why he was the only one that lived.

"He was a very positive-thinking man and he just tried to go forward with his life, but until the day he died, he always wondered why he lived and the others didn't.

"I cannot tell you how grateful and how honoured I am to be a part of this.

"I love the English, you are beautiful people who honour these men and in their death, you have given them life."

Noel Tognazzini, who also unveiled the plaque, said: "Geoff's the guy who really started this whole thing for us, he got in touch with my dad and made us aware of everything and it's been interesting."

Commenting on the day, Keith Gulvin, of nearby Slough Fort Preservation Trust, said: "It's important to honor the sacrifice of people who gave their lives during the war.

"We just had the commemoration of D-Day for 75 years, and this is, in fact, our own small commemoration of the sacrifice of the bomber crew."

All proceeds from the day will be going to the Sally B Preservation, a fund to preserve Europe's last remaining airworthy plane of the same type as the 44-6133.

Mitch Peeke described piecing together the story of the 44-6133 as "like a jigsaw".

The resident of Avery Way, Allhallows, took time away from his job as a driving instructor.

He was dismayed to find while there was a memorial plaque for those who died from Heavenly Body II - at Canvey Point in Essex - there was no similar memorial at Allhallows.

It became his passion project to install a memorial plaque by the beach, where the holiday park is.

He wrote an article for the blog Aviation Trails and got other air force enthusiasts, and the chief executive of Haven, who donated £250, to back to project.

In total, he raised £630 towards a memorial plaque and an information board which are complemented by the view of the Thames Estuary.

Speaking about the unveiling, the 57-year-old said: "Our two American guests loved it and I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout.

"Everybody really enjoyed it, it all came together really well. Just after we did the unveiling ceremony, an old man came up to me and told me that he used to play with the US soldiers when he was just 12 and one of them had given him a pin.

"He said to me, 'I have had this pin all this time, and I am giving it to you, because of what you have done for them'.

"The pin bears the emblem of the US Airborne. I now wear it proudly, on my motorcycle jacket, beside an existing pin I wear of a Union Jack and the US flag crossed.

"Some 75 years ago, those men gave their tomorrows, so that we could have ours. We owe it to them to remember that."

On the day, Mitch raised a total of £308.85 which will go towards The B-17 Charitable Trust.

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