A FORGOTTEN Stourbridge war hero has been commemorated 33 years after his death after a series of coincidences.

Charlie Higgs was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by King George VI for his exceptional duties as a wireless operator in the RAF during World War Two – having participated in day and night attacks in Europe during the conflict.

His log book shows his special duties included dropping Special Operational Executives, the forerunners to the SAS, to the French Resistance and he was promoted to Flying Officer towards the end of the war before receiving his medal from King George VI.

But as life returned to normal after the war his heroics were forgotten.

Former RAF man Brian Gittins, from Kidderminster, knew Mr Higgs in the 1950s but only discovered just how brave his old friend had been during WWII in 2017 when he noticed a collection of medals put up for sale in Shrewsbury had belonged to Charlie.

Among them was an RAF Distinguished Flying Cross so Mr Gittins decided to see if he could locate his former pal and had a letter printed in two local newspapers.

He had just two responses and was pointed in the direction of Stourbridge man Mick Freer who it turned out had been a friend of Charlie’s.

After an extensive search Mr Gittins discovered Charlie had died of a heart attack in 1985, aged 65, and some time later he discovered he had been buried at St Mary’s Church in Oldswinford.

Having found the location of the grave Mr Gittins and Mr Freer met for the first time at the church and were saddened to discover Charlie’s final resting place was a rough piece of ground.

Mr Gittins said: “There was no headstone, just a neglected resting place for such a war hero.”

Both decided a wooden cross would be bought and suitably inscribed, the plot tidied up and perhaps some bulbs planted – and on a crisp wintry morning they had Mr Higg’s final resting place blessed by Rev Tom Chapman, of the Stourbridge branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, in a poignant re-dedication service.

Mr Gittins said: “It seems amazing that Charlie Higgs remained almost anonymous to the people who lived in Stourbridge.

"Of course, those that were involved in wars of any kind are usually reticent to talk about their part in anything that might sound like boasting.”