A former RAF pilot and a gunner who survived the most dangerous bombing raid of the Second World War have visited a museum near York to see a reconstruction of their plane.

Joe Hitchman, 76, and his rear gunner Fred Tunstall, 77, were members of the first crew to fly Friday the 13th, the Halifax bomber they took to Nuremberg for a mission in which more than 100 planes were lost and 700 airmen died. The plane is now the only Halifax still in existence after being reconstructed for The Yorkshire Air Museum.

Mr Hitchman said: "We saw planes going down around us left right and centre in Nuremberg and after a while we stopped logging them and just kept our eyes open for fighters. It was the worst night I ever experienced.

"At the time I didn't think about it. You never expected to come back when you set off on missions, although you hoped you would, but when you were out there you were working and didn't have time to think about it.

"It came home when you got back to the mess and found which of your friends was missing. It brings back a lot of emotion seeing this plane again after all we've been through in it."

Friday the 13th became the most famous Halifax after completing 128 missions, more than any other.

Mr Hitchman and Mr Tunstall only flew it twice, but it holds an important part in their memory.

Mr Hitchman said: "It looks just like it was when we flew it, and it is great to see it again."

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