Darlington remembers the self-sacrifice of WW2 pilot William McMullen

In doing so, Pilot Officer William McMullen probably saved hundreds of lives.

READ THE FULL AMAZING STORY OF WILLIAM McMULLEN HERE

But his decision cost him his own: at 8.49pm, his plane avoided the last roofs of the houses at the Yarm Road end of Darlington and plummeted in a fireball into a field connected to Lingfield farm. He was killed instantly – but there are several people still alive who remember how the orange fireball lit up the sky and picked out the parachutes of his crew members as they drifted safely down to earth.

He, like they, could have jumped and lived, but he chose not to.

As he was flying on a training exercise from RAF Middleton St George, he was not eligible for an honour.

So on every January 13, a group of townspeople gather informally at his small stone memorial on McMullen Road at 8.35pm, usually in freezing temperatures, to remember him, his story and the enormity of his decision.

HOW THE 80th ANNIVERSARY OF McMULLEN’S SELF SACRIFICE WAS COMMEMORATED

Last year, for the 80th anniversary of his self-sacrifice, Darlington Cares smartened up the memorial and Darlington MP, Lola McEvoy, built on the work of her predecessor, Peter Gibson, in trying to find a way to get McMullen honoured. Journalists in Canada picked up on the story and won the support of McMullen’s family.

“He saved the town. He saved his crew. Everybody is happy but him,” said Loring Barber, the airman’s grandson. “How can you not honour him?”

The wheels of officialdom grind very slowly, so on Tuesday, at 8.30pm, everyone is invited to gather beside the McMullen memorial, hear his story and hold a minute’s silence on the 81st anniversary of his death. Our little ceremony will be over by 8.49pm.