Six months of research has gone into finding the members

The tragedy happened when two Lancaster bombers of RAF 662 Squadron collided over Earls Colne.

They were part of a 600-plane mission to Calais on September 20, 1944.

The bodies of the aircrew were recovered.

Four of the crew were from New Zealand, one from Canada, and the rest were British.

Over the next 80 years, knowledge of the crash site and the deaths of the aircrew was in danger of being lost as they were just a few of the many thousands killed in Bomber Command.

Respects - people came to pay their respects to the 15 who sadly died (Image: Dan Elms Photography) After the crash, recovery crews on the ground miscommunicated the location and families were wrongly told it was in Wormington.

Earls Colne Heritage Museum chairman Gordon Brown put six months of research into the event, alongside colleague Lesley Berner.

They managed to connect the dots and find out information about the incident, as well as finding families of the dead servicemen.

Crowd - people came from far and wide to honour the men who died (Image: Dan Elms Photography) Mr Brown said: “It was phenomenal. Over 150 people came to the event and they came from all over.

“Two of the crew's sons, who are now in their 80s came down and they did the unveiling. One of the nephews came all the way from Penzance - that’s what it means to them.

“Lesley Berner and I worked together over the six months to research and use different sites such as Ancestry to locate family members.

“We’ve found 11 of the 15 so far - as far away New Zealand and as close as Brentwood.

“It’s been a very humbling experience, and the families are very grateful for what we did.”

The base of the research started when an article was found from the Halstead Gazette from 2004, with someone appealing for information about the crash and a person who was alive remembered it.

Funeral directors Daniel Robinson and Sons put on the service and funded the booklets and a videographer, who live-streamed the event internationally, with people from as far away as Croatia and New Zealand watching.