A BOOT with a foot still inside and a severed finger bearing a ring were among the grisly traces of four young men who perished on a Scottish hillside.

Their remains were scattered across the slopes of the Pentland Hills after a night-time aircrash.

But more than half a century after their German bomber plummeted from the night skies, an Edinburgh gardener is unlocking the hidden secrets of the young airmens' lives.

Amateur historian Kenneth Walker is determined to solve the mystery of what happened on the night of March 25 1943, when a squadron of Luftwaffe bombers droned across Edinburgh's skies.

The 37-year-old has spent six years building up a picture of the crew of the Junkers JU88A/14 which came down on Hare Hill, near Balerno.

And he has prepared a bronze plaque engraved with the names of the four crew members to mark the spot where they met their doom.

His imagination was fired when he came across a few lines on the crash in a history book.

Mr Walker, who works for Edinburgh City Council, recalled: ''I was hooked right away, and just wanted to find out more.

''I've been interested in planes and aviation since I was a boy, and this tragedy really captured my imagination - maybe because it happened so close to home.''

But digging out details of what happened on that fateful night at Hare Hill has proved a marathon task.

Newspapers reported the countryside was alight with enemy fire from off-target German bombers dispatched to wipe out the port of Leith.

One report recorded: ''One of the raiders crashed on a hillside, presumably as a result of anti-aircraft fire. All of the crew were killed and parts of the plane were scattered over a wide area.''

There was little interest in the young men who died in a country at war.

Mr Walker is still searching for the exact spot on the hillside where the plane came down.

He contacted farmer Alastair Cowan, owner of the land at Hare Hill, who recalls being shown parts of the wreckage and being told about the finger and the boot.

Mr Walker has copies of a map showing two spots where the farmer thinks the wreckage landed.

But the impact was so great when the bomber hit the hillside fragments of the the fuselage were scattered over half a mile.

Mr Walker said: ''I still don't know exactly where the plane went down, but I plan to comb the hillside until I do.''

The amateur archaeologist has found several clues, and remembers vividly the moment he found his first piece of wreckage.

He said: ''I found a tiny shard of aluminium from the plane, all blackened by the fire. I was excited, but it was a very saddening moment as well, knowing that four human being lost their lives on that hill.''

The identities of these airmen remained a puzzle until Mr Walker turned to the German authorities for help.

He gathered all the information he had on the crash and drafted a letter.

Within weeks a reply came from Luftwaffe archives.

The four airmen were Fritz Forster, who was 30, Heinz Cristall and Willi Euler, both just 21, and 23-year-old Horst Bluhm.

It was an emotional moment for Mr Walker when he finally saw the photo of Fritz Forster.

He said: ''I was finally able to put a face to a name. There was also a letter from the German airforce to his wife telling her they were promoting him posthumously. It was very sad.''

The remains of the four soldiers were dug up in 1962 and taken to Cannock Chase in Birmingham for burial in a war cemetery.

Mr Walker insists that the men's lives should be commemorated and hopes to erect a post on the hillside with the plaque nailed on.

He said: ''It is nothing to do with their mission or where they came from. They were human beings and should be remembered.''