A POLISH veteran has had an emotional reunion with the sister he thought had died during the Second World War.

When Feliks Puczylowski, 88, received his MBE for his work with the War Pensions Committee in 2003, the Free Press covered the story and posted it online on our site, www.bucksfreepress.co.uk Then, a friend of his sister's granddaughter discovered the article while searching the web in Switzerland.

Mr Puczylowski, of St Hugh's Close, Stokenchurch, said: "It was a miraculous coincidence.

"She saw my name on the newspaper's website and she first telephoned my sister to confirm the details and then me to tell me my sister was alive.

"The next day my sister telephoned me after 66 years."

His long-lost sister, Genowefa Wasowicz, lives near Lyon in France and is 91 years old. Mr Puczylowski had not seen her since 1941.

He said: "I'm so very happy. Even in my prayers, I have been praying for her with the dead, so now I have to transfer my prayers back to the living."

Unfortunately Mrs Wasowicz is ill in hospital at the moment, so she has only been able to speak to her brother once by telephone. Mr Puczylowski hopes they will be able to meet face to face in the future.

The war veteran was featured in our sister paper Midweek, on Tuesday after being threatened with eviction from his sheltered accommodation for refusing to clear hoards of paper stored in his home. It was then Mr Puczylowski told our reporter that his long-lost sister had phoned in January.

He said the items at his home are essential for his work in helping the families of war veterans. Fire safety officers said his home is a fire risk, however, and Buckinghamshire Housing Association will be seeking repossession of his home through the courts.