A HAMPSHIRE airman will be proving that age certainly has not withered him when he pilots a replica First World War plane this weekend.

Today a memorial to the men and women of the British Air Services will be unveiled in St Omer, Northern France. A series of flypasts are planned and one of the pilots taking part is 81-year-old Doug Gregory from Blackfield.

He will by flying his replica SE5, a plane which was used during the First World War at St Omer.

Doug built his SE5 in four years and it is based at Boscombe Down airfield in Wiltshire. He started work on the aircraft 18 years ago after retiring from his job as an art master at Noadswood School in Dibden Purlieu.

"I was a fighter pilot during the Second World War. I was 18 and I flew a Mosquito," he recalled.

"I took part in 69 operations and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

"I later became a test pilot for the RAF and on leaving the service I started to teach art. When I retired I wanted a plane of my own and I had really liked the SE5 so I decided to build one myself from scratch."

At the end of the First World War there were more than 50,000 members of the Royal Air Force serving on the Western Front.

In all, 2,700 SE5/5a aircraft were manufactured during the war and another 2,500 were produced before production ceased in 1919.

"There is one original SE5 that is still flying that I know of," said Doug. "The rest are in museums. There is a just a handful of other enthusiasts who have built replicas.

"I was approached by the RAF to take part in this ceremony.

"They came out to see my aircraft and were impressed by how accurate it is."

The memorial's unveiling marks the 90th anniversary of the first British aircraft to arrive at St Omer and the 100th anniversary of the entente cordiale.

The memorial, funded entirely from personal or private donations, will be sited at St Omer aerodrome in northern France, on land offered in perpetuity by the French authorities.

It will be the first permanent monument to personnel from the British Air Services who served on the Western Front.

"Seeing as I was a fighter pilot in the last war it is appropriate for me to be flying there," he said. "It will be a fitting tribute to all those brave men and women."