Garden pays tribute to airman who died when his Halifax bomber crashed in Yorkshire

In the 80 years since, his family from New Zealand have been unable to visit his grave – until a family friend found it last year with the help of a cemetery gardener at Stonefall.

Now, this reunion has inspired an entry from gardening teams at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to this week's Harrogate Flower Show.

To surviving family in New Zealand it means the world to see the Flight Sergeant remembered, while this chance meeting means his story lives on. To CWGC gardener Helen Gregory, who had come across a family friend struggling to find Sidney's headstone, she had known immediately the strength of what it meant.

“Nobody has been able to visit in 80 years,” said Ms Gregory. “It’s a really kind thing she was doing for the family – she can't have gone home and said ‘sorry, I couldn't find him’.

“Sidney died 11,000 miles from home. He could just be lost. There are still people coming, from all over the world, to see relative’s graves for the first time.”

With more than 1,000 Commonwealth war graves, Harrogate’s Stonefall Cemetery is one of the largest CWGC sites in the North.

Cains was one of 23 New Zealanders at Stonefall who lost their lives in the Second World War. He had been on an operational flight to Cologne when an engine failed, and he was killed. He was buried in a smaller, hidden plot at Stonefall before the main area opened.

His death came months after that of his older brother, Private James Allen Cains, killed July, 1942 while serving in Egypt. Today, they are both remembered by family in New Zealand. Sidney James Tubb, who carries the names of his two uncles, was moved nearly to tears when he heard about the show garden. His own plans to visit were dashed by Covid and he is now aged 83.

It was his daughter Trish's friend Kim Komene who had promised to look up the grave while in England, but had struggled to find it without Ms Gregory's aid.

“We could never have imagined our ‘boys’ being highlighted in this way,” said Trish Edwards today. “As we talk about it around our dinner table – 11,000 miles away – it has become ‘real’ for our children..

“We were previously unaware of the CWGC and the respect and care they show our loved ones who didn’t return home. We would like to express our gratitude but above all, we remember and appreciate those who served for all of us.”

The show garden entry, 11,000 miles from home, will be judged today before opening to the public at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show from tomorrow until Sunday.

Created with head gardener in the North, Tim Lambert, it incorporates New Zealand plants with the CWGC formal planting scheme.