BURGLARS stole a lifetime of memories when they broke into the home of a Stubbins man - including a wartime escape map that belonged to his father.

Andrew Gluba (57), of William Street, was away overnight when electrical goods and personal items were taken from his home.

They included his computer, a scanner, a DVD player and Sky satellite equipment.

But when Mr Gluba returned home on Wednesday morning of last week, he found the thieves had also taken irreplaceable items accumulated over the course of a lifetime.

These included his birth certificate and old school reports from St Gabriel's and St Marie's in Bury, as well as items that belonged to his family.

There was a Zippo lighter that had been a memento of his son Paul's service in the first Gulf War and a camera that had been a present from his former wife Jane to daughter Jessica.

But most precious of all was a silk RAF escape map that belonged to his father Flt Lt Mark Gluba.

Flt Lt Gluba was a member of the Polish air force, but served with the RAF after his country was overrun by the Nazis in 1939.

He flew as pilot on up to 90 missions over Germany, and stayed in Britain after the Russians took over his homeland.

Mr Gluba said: "It's as if my whole identity has been taken and the map is the worst thing of all to go missing.

"It's an irreplaceable piece of history and something that I would have wanted to pass on some day."

The map was typical of those issued to British airman in the event of them landing behind enemy lines.

Former electrician Mr Gluba said: "My father told us that it was made of silk so that you could put it in your mouth or hide it in your clothes so that it wouldn't be detected if you were captured."