A WOMAN has solved a mystery that haunted her family for more than 60 years - thanks to the wonders of the internet.

Kathryn Trainer's uncle Jack died in the Second World War when his plane crashed near Frankfurt in Germany, but his family was never told what had happened to him.

John Morton, known as Jack, lived in Moss Lane, Kearsley, before he volunteered with the RAF in 1942. He died on November 25, 1943, aged just 23, after a bombing raid over Frankfurt.

As a child, Mrs Trainer, aged 51, of Marlborough Gardens, Farnworth, heard different stories about how he died.

Mrs Trainer said: "The family were sent a telegram to say that he was missing. Then, five years later, the RAF said he had been in a crash. That was all they heard."

In November 2006, she decided to type "431 squadron" into an internet search engine.

Mrs Trainer said: "I don't really know what prompted me to do it. But once I started I kept finding more and more information." Eventually she found a website run by a man called Matthias Baar in Germany.

She emailed him with some details and he contacted people in the village of Seckbach, near Frankfurt, where the plane crashed.

He then sent her witness statements from people who were in the village on the night the plane came down.

Mrs Trainer said: "The statements were really upsetting to read. One woman said she saw the pilot still strapped in his seat - that was my uncle. Other people spoke of the screams from the aircraft."

She was introduced to Dr Dieter Zeh who was just seven-years-old when the plane went down and still lives in the village.

This then prompted her to go to the crash site, with her husband, also called Jack, in November this year. "I needed to do it for my mum," Mrs Trainer said.

"It was very emotional but I'm really glad I went."

They then visited his grave, at Durnbach, near Munich, on Remembrance Sunday.

Mrs Trainer said she is still reeling from her discovery.

She said: "I think it is brilliant to be able to find out so much on the internet. I was absolutely blown away by the amount of information that was out there. I'm just so glad that I did it."