The Halifax World War Two bomber ‘Friday the 13th’ has taken pride of place at the Yorkshire Air Museum after being pulled forward 10 feet from its usual resting place while vital maintenance work is carried out on the Wright Flyer suspended above it.

The bomber’s new position gave a group of French visitors who are part of the Driffield/St Affrique Twin-ning Association, a rare opportunity to take a closer look at the infamous aircraft.

Over 40 members of the Twinning Society were shown around the museum by Elodie Lacanau, 20, a French student on placement at the museum who by co-incidence comes from Nimes, a French town in the same region as St Affrique.

Elodie took the group around the Canadian Memo-rial Hangar which is home to the Halifax bomber and explained the French connection the museum enjoys with two French Squadrons operating from the former RAF Elvington during the Second World War.

A museum spokesman said: “Our French guests were impressed by the looming presence of the Halifax, which on the starboard side bears French markings and the White Rabbit insignia symbol of 346 Guyenne Squadron, the first of the two to form at Elvington, and the Cross of Lorraine.

“They were also able to admire the Mirage Mk III, the only one of its kind on display in the United Kingdom.”