A teenager who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country during the Second World War has been remembered, 80 years on.

Richard Collier had been living with his parents in Montague Road, West Minster, on the Isle of Sheppey, when he signed up for the RAF.

The former pupil of Blue Town School and the Boys Central School had already been a member of the Isle of Sheppy Air Cadets, 1479 Squadron for several years.

At just 19, the former Canning Town Gasworks worker found himself assigned to the top secret 101 Squadron of Lancaster bombers based at RAF Ludford Magna in Lincolnshire.

All the planes had been fitted with secret British technology designed to jam German radio signals between the Nazi ground bases and their night-fighter aircraft.

Known as the Airborne Cigar, or ABC for short, the technology was so secret that crews were not allowed to talk of their work, and no photographs of the specially adapted aircraft were allowed.

Their mission was to accompany regular Lancaster squadrons on bombing raids deep into the heart of Germany, jamming the German signals as they flew.

The aircraft carried a crew of eight instead of the usual seven, as an extra man was needed to man the jamming equipment, and they were fitted with additional radio transmitter aerials and the hold was adapted to accommodate the bulky jamming equipment.

However, they still carried a bomb payload and took part in the missions.

Sgt Collier had already been on three bombing raids on Berlin before the fateful night of March 30, 1944, when his aircraft, DV290 (SR-X), was one of 795 planes on a mission to bomb Nuremberg.

Despite having a total of 26 radio-jamming 101 Squadron planes among the flight, the German fighters found them.

Sgt Collier, who was the aircraft’s rear gunner, was the first to die, strafed with bullets as he defended the aircraft against the attackers.

The plane was badly damaged but flew back to England where the pilot attempted an emergency landing at RAF Welford in Berkshire.

The aircraft exploded on touchdown and all the remaining crew members were killed.

They included Welshman, Flt Sgt Edwin Thomas (the pilot, aged 26), two other Englishmen: Sgt Donald Addy (flight engineer, 21) and Sgt Dennis Billson (upper gunner, 21); two Canadians Flt Sgt Irvin McNay (bomb aimer, 28) and WO2 Alan Rice (navigator, 20), as well as two Australians: Flt Sgt Ernest Traeger (ABC operator, 32) and Flt Sgt Allen Wilson (wireless, air gunner, 30).

In total, 96 planes on the raid were lost, including another six of the especially equipped planes from 101 Squadron.

Since, 1990, a regular memorial service has been held each year at Welford on the anniversary of the crash.

This year was a little different, as members of the Medway Veterans’ Model Club, based in Gillingham, spent seven weeks crafting an exact replica of the AVRO Lancaster DV290, to take to the ceremony.

Three members - Mathew Burdett, John Shepherd and Kevin Farrington - travelled to the base to make the presentation.

The model club had been approached by a member of the Medway Royal Engineer Association, Ian Parker, and asked if they could create a model for the ceremony.

Mr Parker’s wife, Jeanette, is the great-niece of another of the crew members that perished - Flt Sgt Ernest Traeger.

The Medway Veterans’ Model Club was established in October 2022 and meets every Friday at Mid Kent College in Gillingham.

The club is supported by the Kent Art and Wellbeing charity and Models for Heroes.

It is open to any veteran and everything is supplied, including model kits, tools and paints.

Further information from Clive Creer: email ccreer@blueyonder.co.uk