A Weymouth resident is to be presented with a piece of the propeller from her father's plane that was shot down during the Second World War.

Carole Thornley, who lives in Preston, Weymouth with her husband, Brian, will receive the part next year at a ceremony organised by Le Souvenir Francais, an association which oversees the maintenance of war memorials in France.

Mrs Thornley's father, Sergeant Leslie Brotherton, was a rear gunner in the Halifax Bomber MZ 532, one of two planes tasked with immobilising the airfield to prevent attacks on allied troops advancing from the Normandy beach landings. The aircrafts took off from the No. 10 Squadron base at Melbourne, Yorkshire, in the early hours of June 10, 1944.

Both planes were shot down near the town of Saint-Berthevin in north western France, before they reached their target. There were no survivors.

Sgt Brotherton was 24 years old at the time of his death. Born in Spalding, Lincolnshire, he left behind his pregnant wife, Vera, and two children.

"My mum did a wonderful job bringing us up on her own," Mrs Thornley says. "She used to say, 'It wasn't just losing him, it was the mess that he left behind.' She was devastated."

On the 70th anniversary of the crash - June 10, 2014 - Carole unveiled a granite stone memorial at the site where her father's plane crashed, showing details and photographs of the crew members. It was alleged that their bodies were hidden by a farmer in his barn for several weeks, until they could be removed and buried in the civilian cemetery of Laval, in Mayenne.

Mrs Thornley is already in possession of a part from her father's aircraft, but three months ago was contacted by the president of Le Souvenir Francais.

"We received a wonderful email telling us they had found part of the propeller belonging to my dad's plane," she says. "Next year on VE Day, they are going to present it to me."

Relatives of the crew have been visiting Laval on VE Day for many years, attending ceremonies at Laval Town Hall and the sites where both planes crashed. The day marks the formal acceptance by the Allies of Nazi Germany's surrender of its armed forces on May 8, 1945.