A Lancaster bomber came crashing from the sky over Stetten, near Rottweil in south-west Germany, on February 25,1944, killing the crew, including pilot officer Sergeant Ronald Cecil Martin.
Seventy-two years later, from among the rubble, a watch engraved with Sgt Martin's initials, R.C.M, has been uncovered and given to his niece, Rhonda Maxine Merchant, from Gloucester in the state's mid north coast.
"I never knew much about my uncle. I knew he was a pilot in the war, was missing in action and presumed dead," Mrs Merchant said.
"But I was named after him."
"My parents had two daughters before they had me, and assumed I would be a boy after having two girls already, so they decided to name me Ronald Max, after my uncle and my father."
But as she was born a girl, her parents settled on the name Rhonda Maxine.
On Sunday, she was given the watch which once belonged to her uncle.
Sgt Martin, also from Gloucester, was flying a Lancaster bomber with the 460 Squadron when the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter.
In 2013, a German history group began uncovering the crash site and late last year contacted Mrs Merchant with the news her uncle's watch had been found among the rubble.
On Anzac-eve the watch made its way, through the help of an international crew, back to Sydney and into the hands of Mrs Merchant.
"I expected the watch to be posted to me, but it seemed more fitting to receive it the day before Anzac Day at the wreath-laying ceremony of 460 Squadron RAAF in Sydney," Mrs Merchant said.
"It's given us a really different take on Anzac Day.
"I have such high respect for the people who have gone to the trouble of researching this and have gone to every length to find me and my family and present the watch to me."
The watch was presented to Mrs Merchant by Lukas Bach, the stepson of Uwe Benkel, who was part of the German history group which uncovered the crash site.
Lukas said it was "absolutely perfect" timing to have the watch delivered to Mrs Merchant the day before Anzac Day.
A committee member of the 460 Squadron and Friends Group Committee Richard Munro, has been part of the search since 2013. After finally meeting Mrs Merchant and her family, Mr Munro said it was a "really moving" experience.
"To find the watch covered in soil, 72 years later, is just incredible," he said.
"The beautiful part is the teams in Europe, which are seeking out these crash sites to bring closure to the families of crew members. It's just beautiful.
"Typically, these families don't know much about the veterans, but because of the efforts of these history groups, the families are enlightened about their relatives and that is the Anzac spirit."
