Relatives of an RAF Officer whose plane disappeared in 1942 were able to learn of his fate thanks to a Croydon Guardian appeal.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) sought out relatives of Croydon-born Pilot Officer Anthony William Lawrence through the Guardian when the missing plane, an avro anson, was discovered in Canada, 71 years later.

Paul Lawrence, 64, from South Croydon, is Plt Off Lawrence’s nephew, and he contacted the MOD after reading last year Canadian loggers had stumbled across the plane remains near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

Mr Lawrence said: "This whole year was an alien experience because we were suddenly being told that Tony had been found--we thought he had gone down in the water.

"To be told that they had found the plane after 71 years was quite unbelievable."

From last year: Search for relatives of Croydon born World War Two pilot whose remains lay undiscovered for 71 years

Plt Off Lawrence, who was 21 when he died, was one of a crew of four onboard an RAF Avro Anson which took off from the Operational Training Unit based at Patricia Bay on October 30, 1942.

Royal Canadian Air Force Sgt William Baird, RAF Plt Off Charles Fox and Sgt Robert Luckock were the other crew members aboard the doomed flight.

The plane failed to return to base and it was assumed the men had died at sea until the chance discovery of the wreckage on October 23, 2013.

A team from the British Columbia Coroners Service and the Canadian Department of National Defence examined and identified the remains of the four airmen in May 2014.

Your Local Guardian:

An Avro Anson

The search for the Avro Anson plane was captured on film for a documentary, 71 Years: The Loss and Discovery of Avro Anson L7056, to be screened on Forces TV at 9pm, May 5.

Director Nick Versteeg and producer Robert Stitt flew to London to interview the British relatives of the airmen as part of the project, which also saw the filmmakers re-enact the takeoff of the flight.

Mr Lawrence said: "It was brilliant. I was a bit apprehensive at first, because when they did the re-enactment of the plane taking off I thought I’m not actually keen on that, but I thought they did it really well.

"It has given an end to it but in a sense it has reawakened it. You can at last talk now about him because you know where he is."

Seventy-One Years: The Loss and Recovery of Avro Anson L7056 on FORCES TV (Sky 264, Virgin 244, Freesat 652) on May 5 at 9pm