British volunteers are nearing a solution to the mystery of how a Cheam airman was killed in a plane crash in the Malayan jungle in 1945.

The National Ex-Services Association (Nesa) has just completed a privately-funded expedition to recover the remains of John Bromfield.

All 27 team members were forced to pay £2,000 after the Government refused to help repatriate flying officer Bromfield and his seven RAF colleagues.

The mission was completed shortly before the 64th anniversary of the crash, on August 23, which killed the long-lost crew of Liberator KL654.

Forensic science work, scheduled to take two weeks, is now expected to confirm the identities of the men and reveal why the bomber crashed.

Volunteers also hope to return an identity bracelet to relatives of Mr Bromfield, who died aged 20 and once dated the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang actress Sally Ann Howes.

Arthur Lane, 88, founder of Nesa, said: “These boys should have been brought home a long ago.

“The Government has known about this site for years but they say it’s not worth the money to bring them back.

“Every Government in power since the end of the war has had the same attitude; if they are more than 100 miles from England they don’t want to know.

“The United States has a team that brings back their dead, so do the Canadians, but the way the British government treats its soldiers is despicable.”

The crewmen, part of 356 Squadron, had completed a mission to drop supplies for Allied prisoners just days after the end of World War II.

After transmitting a mayday signal, the plane remained lost until its wreckage was discovered by Malaysian aviation archaeologists in 2006.

Later excavations uncovered bone fragments and personal kit but the Ministry of Defence turned down repeated Nesa requests for a recovery team.

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