RED and white roses, the colours of the Polish nation, were laid at the Leeds and Liverpool canalside memorial at Bradley Forge to seven Polish airman who died when their Wellington bomber crashed at the spot on September 23, 1943.

The blooms were the gift of Kath Hartley, of Skipton, and marked the 72nd anniversary of the tragedy and the eighth anniversary of the unveiling of the stone monument, the inspiration of her late husband, Jim, and friend Peter Whitaker, of Cross Hills.

Mr Hartley, who died in 2012, and Mr Whitaker worked tirelessly to establish the memorial and to contact the relatives of the airmen and invite them to attend the ceremony in 2007.

The two men were last year honoured with special commemorations by the Polish nation for their work in establishing the memorial, which is topped by an image of a Polish Eagle and contains the names of the seven airman who perished.

Mrs Hartley received her husband's commemoration at RAF Northolt from the Polish Defence Attache, who said the honours were to acknowledge the significant contribution the two men had made in preserving the memory of Polish airman who died in World War Two.

"It was a wonderful occasion – I was overwhelmed by their remarks about Jim. The Polish community think a great deal about what he and Peter did to remember the men who died," said Mrs Hartley.