A HERO who died on a Royal Navy rescue mission is to be remembered in the Holme Valley.

A memorial service is planned at Upperthong Parish Church on Wednesday, February 16.

It will honour the life of Lt David John Cole, 34, who died when a navy helicopter crashed in rough seas off Cornwall in December.

Lt Cole was one of the four-man crew who perished when they answered an SOS call to their base in Somerset.

The crew were on their way to a distress call from a naval ship. The call turned out to be false.

All four bodies were recovered from the sea, but an inquiry to determine the cause of the accident is still under way.

Lt Cole - who married his 22-year-old wife, Anna, only last August - is the son of Michael and Patricia Cole, of Hill Lane, Upperthong.

The couple have two other children, Steven and Andrea.

They have arranged the memorial service, starting at 11.30am, which will be attended by dozens of their son's friends, family and colleagues.

If the weather remains good there will be a flypast tribute by Lynx helicopter crews from the Royal Navy.

Mr Cole, who spent 15 years as head of Scissett Middle School, said: "We have had a good response from people who knew David from school, university and the Royal Navy.

"A lot of people have been in touch to say they want to come and remember him."

Lt Cole went to school in Upper Hopton, Mirfield, before his family moved to the West Midlands.

They returned to Yorkshire in 1986 to live in Upperthong. Lt Cole went to Shelley High School.

He had a short spell as a salesman at Jansens motor dealers in Huddersfield before going to Hull University, graduating in 1995.

He joined the university's Royal Naval Unit and enrolled at Dartmouth Naval College in Devon in January, 1996. After being commissioned in July that year he began training with the Fleet Air Arm.

He finished as top student and was honoured by the Queen.

Lt Cole joined the HMS Gannet search unit in Scotland and was involved in many rescue missions in Sea King helicopters.

He and his crewmates also flew desperately-ill patients to hospitals from remote locations.

In 2003, Lt Cole transferred to Yeovilton and began flying Lynx helicopters. He was serving on the frigate HMS Portland when he was killed.

He and his wife lived in Dorset.