THE exploits - and bravery - of his big brother Jim, a former Haslingden butcher, during the last war was unknown to Tom Woods until very recently.

But, after discovering Jim (pictured right) was mentioned in dispatches, survived a plane crash, and was mistakenly named as killed in action', he wanted to share his story with Looking Back readers.

"Jim was 12 years older than me, so family talk of his experiences at the time didn't really register.

"Now, however, I have been doing some research and I am so proud of him," said Tom, who is retired and lives in Blackburn.

Born in 1919, Jim went to St Alban's Central Boys' School and was working as a butcher at Blackwell's, in Mosley Street, Blackburn, when he was called up to the army when hostilities first broke out in 1939. He joined the East Lancashire Regiment and was posted to France.

There in June, 1940, helping defend 1,000 yards of land along a canal close to Dunkirk, he was one of only eight survivors from 85 men, following a fierce gun battle.

The story says that Jim waded waist deep in the canal with ammunition on his head to re-arm his colleagues and that they also used the waterway to reach safety.

Jim was mentioned in dispatches, his second-in-command earned the Military Cross, and Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Ervine-Andrews - who had been educated at East Lancashire's Stonyhurst College - the Victoria Cross, which is now on display at Blackburn Museum.

Jim then transferred to the RAF, as a pilot in Bomber Command.

But it was during his operational training at Lossiemouth that his plane crashed, killing two of the crew.

He spent a month in hospital before returning home to Downham Street, Blackburn, to recover further.

The following day his mum, Mary Jane, received a letter saying her son had been killed in action!

Said Tom: "I don't know what was said. But I now have the letter of apology from the War Office, which says "owing to an unfortunate typing error, your son's name was included in the list of deceased personnel".

Jim went on to complete and survive 30 operations, flying his Wellington over Germany and Italy. On one mission, to Essen, his plane made it home with 27 holes from flak.

And on another, to Turin, he spent 11 hours in the air, with no heating, food, or toilet facilities, and was worried whether he had the fuel to make it back over the Alps.

Reaching the rank of Flight Sergeant, Jim was discharged in December 1945.

He returned to butchery, opening his own shop in Haslingden, which he ran for many years.