The daughter of a wartime fighter pilot is trying to trace his sports car - which he drove around Castle Camps and Saffron Walden.

Elizabeth Halls' father, Bryan Wild, was based at an RAF station in Castle Camps towards the end of the Second World War, from October 1944 to mid-January 1946.

In 1944, Bryan bought a black Singer Le Mans sports car - his all-time favourite make of car - from a fellow pilot.

Ely Standard: Bryan Wild during the warBryan Wild during the war (Image: Courtesy of Elizabeth Halls)

 

Elizabeth, who lives in Powys, Wales, said:  "He would have driven around in it and parked it around and about at various times.

"I know he used to visit Saffron Walden and was there on VE Day. He had a dog he used to take in the car with him whenever he could.

"He used to go with the RAF crowd to Fred Tilbrook at Whitensmere Farm in Castle Camps, where they all had a whale of a time, and I'm told it became the Squadron's unofficial mess." 

At some stage Bryan had the car re-sprayed in British racing green.

After the war he moved to Bolton, where he had to sell his beloved car - and Elizabeth does not know what happened to it after that.

Bryan died in 2012, age 90, and often talked about his "little green Singer Le Mans".

Before his death, Bryan collaborated with Elizabeth to write a memoir of his time in the war, Flying Blind: the story of a Second World War night fighter pilot, which was published in 2014.

The book, which is available on Amazon, tells the story of Bryan's flights over Britain, North Africa, the Mediterranean and Germany, including close shaves with death and freak accidents - such as when his goggles caught on a Spitfire cockpit hood during a flight.

Ely Standard: 'Flying Blind' by Bryan Wild and Elizabeth Halls'Flying Blind' by Bryan Wild and Elizabeth Halls (Image: Fonthill Media)

That same year, Elizabeth bought another green Singer Le Mans in her father's memory, and in 2015 drove it to all 60 UK mainland airfields where Bryan landed in WWII.

An RAF station was established at Castle Camps in 1939, and operated as a satellite for RAF Debden and RAF North Weald.

Numerous squadrons flew from the airfield until its closure in 1946.

Elizabeth is now asking for anyone with wartime photos from Castle Camps, Saffron Walden or surrounding areas to see if they can spot Bryan's car - or to get in touch if they have any memories of it.

She said: "I have no number plate to go on so it might just unlock everything for me to find a picture, and then I could see if the car is still in existence. 

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"I have a memory that he said it was a four-seater (which means it would have been a 1.5 litre) but I'm not wholly sure about that.

"I can't tell you what it would mean to find my father's own car, if it's still out there somewhere.

"So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone out there might be able to help me."

Anyone with information can email saffronwalden.reporter@newsquest.co.uk.