Hopes are rising that the riddle surrounding a Castle Douglas wartime flier killed in action
over Belgium is closer to being solved.
Squadron Leader Patrick Gifford was shot down over Hamme-Mille by a German fighter plane on May 16, 1940 and died when his Hurricane crash-landed in a field.
It’s thought Royal Engineers retreating to Dunkirk recovered the 30-year-old’s body from the wreckage – but the whereabouts of his grave remains unconfirmed.
