Bunbury fighter pilot immortalised in Belgian mural

A Bunbury World War I fighter pilot has been immortalised with a mural in the Belgian town of Moorslede.

Bunbury solicitor Frank Slee was a soldier in World War I before volunteering to join the Royal Flying Corps.

On his first operational flight on June 8 1917, he was shot down after engaging in a dog fight with Hermann Goering, who later became Adolf Hitler’s deputy in World War II.

He crash landed in a potato field outside of Moorslede.

A century later the citizens of the Belgian town have unveiled a 8m by 9m mural of the two pilots.

Painted by Belgian artist Filip Cardoen, the mural shows the two men in their flying gear with British and German planes in the background.

Mr Slee’s son John, who lives in the South West, said he was delighted with the mural.

“This is a great compliment to my dad,” John said.

“We were all chuffed when we heard about this.”

John said he received an invitation to the unveiling but received it two days after the event.

“They sent me an email to attend but by then it was all over,” he said.

“My eldest son Richard is heading to Europe with his family and he is trying to persuade me to go too,” he said.

“I might make the trip over but I turned 86 this year and I need to look after my health.”