A Bomber Command veteran gave up his seat at the London memorial unveiling for his nephew.

Wing Commander Kenneth Newman, 90, from Bournemouth, had waited decades for his 55,753 lost comrades to be recognised.

But when the time came, he sent his sister’s son David Piedot, whose father was shot down over Magdeburg in January 1944, four months before he was born.

David’s mother was left to raise him on her husband’s pension of just 36 shillings a week.

Mr Newman, MBE, of Westbourne, said: “I was absolutely delighted the memorial finally came together.

“David’s dad was buried in Berlin. It seemed appropriate that he was there representing himself for his dad as well as for me.”

Mr Newman, who saw 30 operations after joining the RAF at the age of 18, served in three squadrons over 30 years’ service.

“You cannot understand what it was like until it actually happens to you,” he said.

“It was nice to get into the inky blackness but it was not very pleasant when the Germans were shooting at you.”

His squadron lost a fifth of its aircraft on its first night out, with 12 of 15 planes returning.

Wife of 69 years Molly Newman said: “There was a lot of opposition to the memorial after the war but when you think of all the bombs that the Germans dropped here.

“We would not have won the war without the Bomber Command, there’s no question of that.”

The memorial to Bomber Command was unveiled by the Queen.