HE was one of thousands of young men whose heroism and selfless sacrifice saved Britain in the Second World War.

Now one European soldier wants to celebrate the life of Oxford-born pilot Thomas Ivor Hicks – and is trying to find out more about him.

Sergeant Pilot Hicks died in action in 1941, aged 26, and is buried alongside 154 other airmen at the Adegem Canadian War cemetery in Belgium.

Frank Raeman, who is writing a book on the airmen, is urging anyone who may have information on Mr Hicks to step forward.

Mr Raeman, a chief warrant officer with the Belgian armed forces, says he wants to highlight the sacrifice made by these men.

Speaking from Belgium, he said: “After six years of research, we know enough about the vast majority of the airmen to have almost completed the book.

“Only a few of them remain a mystery, and one of them is Thomas Hicks.

“Like all of them, he would have played an important role in the defence of Europe and we would love to discover more about him.”

So far CWO Raeman has discovered Sgt Hicks was born in Oxford in February 23, 1915. He was the son of Agnes Hicks, and married to Olive Irene Hicks.

At the time of his death he was a sergeant pilot serving with 99 Squadron, which is still based at RAF Brize Norton, near Carterton.

CWO Raeman said he had been interested in the military most of his life.

He said: “I joined the armed forces and have enjoyed a long career. Now I want to research more history.

“That said, the book we are writing will be only 15 per cent military history. The rest will be the personal stories of these men, because I think it is very important to get that across.

“Thousands of young men showed incredible bravery and it is very important that we highlight and celebrate what they did.”

CWO Raeman added: “If anyone knows anything about Thomas Hicks I would really ask them to get in contact with me.

“We are looking for any information or detail, no matter how small it may seem. It could be exactly what we needed.

“Did you know him? Do you know his family? Did you live near him? If yes, please do get in touch.”

99 Squadron was formed on August 15, 1917.

The squadron entered the Second World War on September 8, 1939, with the first of many leaflet-dropping missions over Germany.

Its first bombing raids were launched on April 17, 1940 during the German invasion of Norway.

Anyone with information on Sgt Hicks can write to CWO Frank Raeman, De Vijf Eiken, 11, B-9930, Zomergem or contact reporter Dan Hearn at dan.hearn@oxfordmail.co.uk