On December 7th 1942 a Canadian bomber went missing with all five crew members presumed dead. For many years family were left with questions. Now, 74 years later, Pat Gibson and her family have closure knowing the fate of her uncle David Urquhart.

In the summer of 2015, a farmer reclaiming land near the town of Longonnet, France began unearthing remnants of the World War II airplane. Eventually a registration plate was found and traced back to the original crew, including a family in Southern Manitoba. 

Flight Sergeant David Smith Urquhart.

Morden resident Pat Gibson was contacted by historians in Europe, inquiring about her uncle, Flight Seargeant David Smith Urquhart. It was then the final pieces of the puzzle were finally put in place.

With no bodies or parachutes found in the aircraft, it's now believed the crew parachuted over the Sea of Biscay and drowned the fateful night in 1942. The plane on auto-pilot flew back to land and crashed after running out of fuel.

The full story finally told, the family was invited to Europe to attend a memorial service for the crew in Longonnet earlier this summer.

Gibson says enlisting at the age of 20, Urquhart was a typical farm boy from Roland. As a young man he swam in the creek in summer, played on the Roland hockey team in the winter, and signed up in Winnipeg to serve his country in 1941.

Trained as an air gunner, he was posted to the Alouette Bomber Squardron. On December 6, 1942 his aircraft left in a Wellington bomber for a bombing raid on Mannheim, Germany.

"He served, and along with the rest of the crew members lost their lives," Gibson says.

However, she says knowing the rest of David's story has brought closure for the family.

"It puts a whole bunch of things to rest, and makes us proud that we're part of the family."

Pat Gibson (right) shared her story Thursday night at a banquet hosted by the Morden Legion.

Bits of glass, a radio and finally a registration number were some of the remnants of the crashed Canadian bomber unearthed in France.