A PLAQUE will be unveiled at the former house of Dambuster pilot Bill Townsend at a special ceremony tomorrow (Thursday).

Chepstow Town Council host the ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Air Force and the 75th anniversary of the Dambusters raid.

A plaque will be unveiled outside Flight Sergeant Townsend's home in Hardwick Avenue at 6.15pm, followed by a fly-past by a Lancaster Bomber timed for 6.40pm.

The plaque has been designed made and donated by one of the town councillors for the ward which includes Hardwick Avenue, potter Ned Heywood MBE.

Pilot of Avro Lancaster bomber “O for Orange” in the WWII Dambusters raid, Flight Sergeant Towsend grew up in Chepstow and attended Monmouth School from 1932 to 1940.

He led the final wave of six Lancaster Bombers on the dams of the Ruhr Valley in Germany.

His aircraft was one of the last of the three formations on the epic six hour raid and the last to leave the dams area.

For his part, he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and Distinguished Flying Medal in recognition of his wartime accomplishments.

Following the war Mr Townsend settled in Bromsgrove with his wife, Eileen, and their children. At one point he and his wife owned a pub, but he later worked as a civil servant, until he passed away in 1991.