On June 21, 1943, the 21-year-old RAAF Flying Officer Meiklejohn managed to wrestle with his stricken bomber away from the village of Achel after a fight with a German aircraft sent the plane plummeting to earth.

Mr Meiklejohn and his New Zealand navigator Charles Redwood died in the crash, while five of the seven crew abandoned the plane mid-air under Meiklejohn’s orders. 

Songwriter Scott Cochrane, who immortalised the heroism in a ballad last year, will attend the 75th anniversary ceremony in Belgium alongside Stuart Meiklejohn. 

Mr Cochrane will officially represent Wagga at the Belgium ceremony and will fly the flag for the city, where the city's sons once fell. 

“It feels amazing to have this opportunity,” he said.

“We have been able to let the people of Wagga know what happened, the boy from Wagga who saved the town.

“The song has brought together two towns on opposite sides of the world.”

“Many are gone and forgot… they honour your name and praise you on hallowed ground,” Mr Cochrane said in his lyrics. 

“You flew the coffin like a fighter but they caught you right back in the tail.” 

“Captain 366 makin’ a hero’s stand tonight.”

Stuart Meiklejohn, the nephew of the local hero, is proud to be able to represent his family at the ceremony. 

“It’s something I have wanted to do for a number of years, ever since I found out Bruce’s story really,” he said. 

“We didn’t really know the story until a crew member, one of the survivors, came out in the eighties and told us about how it all unfolded.

“To see it put on the world stage is great.” 

For more information about Flying Officer Meiklejohn’s story click here.