YORKSHIRE Air Museum’s Hawker Hurricane aircraft will be making an appearance in the city centre next week to mark the 72nd anniversary of the famous Baedeker Raids which devastated York.

The aircraft will arrive in St. Sampson’s Square early on Monday morning, along with exhibition and living history re-enactors, and it will stay in the city until the following Sunday.

Often referred to as the York Blitz, the raid in April 1942 saw Luftwaffe bombers head for targets chosen from a German tourist guide.

Ninety-five people were killed in York and 212 injured but the raid is famous for actions of 23 year old French RAF pilot Yves Mahé who saw the city ablaze, set off in his Hawker Hurricane and shot down a German bomber before the rest of the attacking force fled.

Museum director Ian Reed said: “It is very fitting that as the city prepares for the Tour de France Grand Départ, our Hawker Hurricane is making this now annual pilgrimage into York to celebrate the day a French airman saved York from what could have been catastrophic damage had the raid continued for much longer. This year, that airman, Yves Mahé will be fully honoured with a plaque to be erected in his memory.”