A special memorial to two US soldiers, whose death in the Cotswolds in WW2 has remained under a cloud of secrecy for 80 years, will soon be completed, pending final agreement from planners.

Pilot James Spear, 24 and from Pittsburgh, and Kodak-born Aerial Observer Carroll Bryan, 19, lost their lives during a Christmas test flight of top-secret radar technology when their Mosquito NS638 crashed near Breakheart Quarry, on the western edge of Dursley, on December 23, 1944.

Reports indicated that the plane impacted woodland, in foggy conditions, at about 400mph, with one of its Merlin engines finally coming to rest near the now-closed New Inn in Waterley Bottom. Local reports at the time suggest schoolboys visited the site, before it was cordoned off, and took mementos from the wreckage.

The soldiers' tragic deaths, close to the conclusion of the war, has remained without commemoration for 80 years, but Dursley and Cam British Legion intend to remember their story through a garden of "peace and reflection" which is already being planted out, at the town's War Memorial Recreation Ground, on Kingshill Road.

The site, immediately behind the adjacent Pike House , will also see a relocation of the town's plaque from a nearby pavilion to remember all of the town's fallen soldiers, with their names showcased in a new plinth at the centre of the planned garden.

Key to the design is a sculpted stone which has been created to remember all victims, including the pilots. Breakheart Community Project which runs a family activity space at the former Nuclear Decommissioning Authority site - which was used for explosive research until 2000 - has provided the rock.

With significant help so far towards a £7,500 target from individual donations, local businesses and Renishaw PLC, local RBL chairman Matt Patrick told Punchline-Gloucester.com that the obscure story behind the plane crash was kept secret for years by military authorities in the US, with attempts made over the years to determine their story being met by "no comment".

Mr Patrick said: "It was a reconnaissance mission, but it was secret because they had the latest radar equipment on at the time. When they crashed, the Americans swarmed the place, so nobody could get in to see it; it only came to light a long time afterwards because a secret autopsy was held into what had happened to the pilots and the aircraft."

Since the new garden plan was conceived, he said there has been great interest in the plan to commemoate the lives of the airmen from their descendents in the USA, while the RAF Association has also been keen see a suitable setting where the story of the pilots can be remembered.

"We are relocating a monument for our war dead of both world wars and we will add a small plaque underneath for the two American pilots; there is a great deal of interest in local media in the USA from their home town."

Families of the two airmen, who reportedly knew no details of their relatives' deaths, hope to visit Dursley for the dedication ceremony when it is held, as well as a delegation of USAF personnel from RAF Fairford.

The garden will be 10 sqm and feature a central monument plinth, benches, and a new brass plaque; initial shrubbery and boundaries have been set out and in a consultation with planners at Stroud District Council, Sport England said it does not usually approve such projects, but that the scale and nature of the proposal merited an exception.

It had been hoped that the new site would be completed ahead of the Remembrance ceremonies, but Mr Patrick said that the plan was now for the area to be the new focal point when Cam and Dursley hold their usual twin-centre commemorations in November 2025.

Juie Campbell, Dursley and Cam Royal British Legion secretary, said she was optimistic about raising the full £7,500 needed to complete the project as she believes a lot of people really care about veterans and those who have died in service.

● Donations to the project's final £7,500 goal can be sent to Sort code: 30-91-87 A/C No: 37193360 Dursley and Cam Branch Royal British Legion. Please use the reference 'Memorial Garden'.