THE lives of 11 pilots who died after crashing in the Ribble Valley and Forest of Bowland during the Second World War are due to be marked at the end of the month.

The public have been invited to join around 40 youngsters from the Clitheroe Youth Forum, who have been researching into the lives of the pilots after being awarded a £27,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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The 'We Shall Remember Them' project was made possible after a two-and-a-half-year appeal and has already unearthed the names and nationalities of 25 airmen who lost their lives in 15 accidents.

One of the men to be remembered will be Flight Officer J R Runnells, an American who was flying a Republic P.47D. He crashed on February 6, 1944, on Pendle Hill aged 22.

Flight Sergeant J L Goulter, 22, an Australian who came down towards Gisburn flying a Bolton Paul Defiant will also be remembered. He crashed on Pendle Hill on October 24, 1942.

The service will be staged at the Nick of Pendle from 10.30am on Saturday, November 29.

Members of the 143 squadron RAF Cadets from Pendle will be attending alongside Ralph Assheton, the son of the current Lord Clitheroe, the Deputy Mayor of Clitheroe, Coun Jim Shervey and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant Peter Robinson OBE.

Another service will be held at Salter Fell near Slaidburn at 1.45pm the same day in memory of nine airmen who were killed in the area during the war, including Sgt E Lyon, an American who crashed in Burn Fell on January 2, 1945, aged 25.

The services come after the Clitheroe Youth Forum planted 25 oak saplings in the areas, one for each of the airmen who lost their lives.

Mel Diack, 61, the forum's chairman, said: "It's really important for everyone to remember the lives of these men and I'm glad that so many people are already coming.

"Everyone is welcome to come along to one service or both and I'm sure they will be a success.

"The young people have done a great job in researching these men and I'm glad that at last people will be given the chance to pay their respects to them.

"They should never be forgotten and the work that the group is doing at the moment will go some way to make sure that their names live on.

"I think that this work is vital in making sure that the stories and the sacrifices of the past are remembered and past on to future generations.

For more information call Mr Diack on 01254 823012.