On December 10th,Ben Marceau,(the sole survivor of the Fern crew of 434 squadron,shot down over Essen on 11th March 1945) ,sadly passed away.
It was my privilege to have been corresponding with Ben for many years after i had contributed  to the story of the Fern crew and their loss,my late father having been a friend of the navigator,George Rowe.
Ben was a really lovely man,who managed to understand my not so perfect French,while i did the same with his letters in French.He  had survived as a POW and also as a member of the Guinea Pig Club(Canadian Wing) at East Grinstead during and after the war.A truly inspirational man ,with a wonderful sense of humour and sadly missed.