WW2 pilot's remains found 75 years after Cornwall crash

An inquest will be held into the death of Sqn Ldr Daniel Cremin

The remains of a distinguished Spitfire RAF pilot were found by a metal detectorist 75 years after he was killed in a mid-air crash.

Sqn Ldr Daniel Cremin, 25, died in 1942 when his plane came down over Cornwall.

Mark Cremin, said a sealed coffin of his father's remains was sent to his family and buried in Wiltshire but it "may have just been sandbags".

Sqn Ldr Cremin's bones have now been interred in his original grave after being discovered last year.

Following the discovery of his remains an inquest will be held. It is due to open on Monday in Truro.

Sqn Ldr Cremin was an Australian pilot who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery during the siege of Habbaniya in Iraq, shortly before he died.

He served in the Middle East before being transferred to 66 Squadron.

On 24 March 1942, he was on operational training over Cornwall when his Spitfire collided with another Spitfire flown by Australian, Sergeant William Norman. Both men were killed.

Sqn Ldr Cremin and his wife Patricia Whitemore

Last year, police were contacted after a metal detectorist discovered the Australian pilot's bones at the crash site near St Erth, Hayle.

In November, a second service was held and Sqn Ldr Cremin's remains were interred in his original grave at Wardour Roman Catholic Cemetery in Tisbury.

Mr Cremin, who was just two when his father died, said the discovery and burial with "full honours" had "helped to conclude the whole affair".

"I had quite a small wooden casket. The grave had been opened so I put it in the grave," he said.

"I missed him as a father all those years and somehow doing that was a conclusion.

"It's now all in one place and drawn together."