A WAR hero who went on to found an estate agency revisited Blackburn to celebrate his business's 50th anniversary.
Tom Shaw, originally from Ribchester, was decorated for bravery as a 19-year-old flight engineer in 1944.
He escaped when his Lancaster crashed on landing and caught fire, but then re-entered the burning aircraft twice to rescue two other members of the crew and was awarded the British Empire Medal for his heroism.
In 1949, he founded Thomas V Shaw's estate agency in Blackburn and built it up into a successful business before retiring to Nice, in the south of France, 16 years ago.
The estate agency is now run by his son-in-law and daughter David and Lynn Briffett and a new branch is being opened on Moor Lane, Clitheroe, later this year.
The family celebrated with a party at the Preston New Road office and a meal for staff at the Spread Eagle, Turton.
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