A FRIENDSHIP between two post-war schoolboys in England and Germany has its 50th anniversary this year.

Mike Coxe, 65, from St Nicholas Road, Wallingford, will meet again with Piet Rosenburger, from Cologne, for a reunion at the end of this month.

Mr Coxe was born and brought up in Wallingford, going to local primary schools before having his secondary education at St Birinus School, Didcot.

He said: "As schoolboys at St Birinus, we were among the first to have exchange visits with German youngsters. We stayed with their families and they came over here to share our hospitality. Piet and I are the only ones from that exchange trip still in contact and this year we are celebrating 50 years of friendship."

When the Didcot group first went to Germany, it was a major expedition - steam trains to the coast, a ferry crossing to Ostend, trains through Belgium and border crossings bristling with heavily armed troops.

They went to Bad Godesburg, near Bonn, where Herr Rosenburger lived at that time.

Mr Coxe said: "We were welcomed with open arms - the mayor was there, brass bands were playing, the streets were lined with people.

"It was overwhelming. We could not have been made more welcome. The war damage was horrendous, even in 1957, but there was no animosity to we English children. Instead, everyone was looking to the future."

Since that meeting, the pair have visited each other a dozen times.

When Herr Rosenburger comes over at the end of the month with his second wife Heidi and her daughter, there will be visits to Oxford and a boat trip down the River Thames.

Both boys were interested in rowing and Mr Coxe still rows in Wallingford Rowing Club races as a veteran.

In the 1960s, Mr Coxe also formed a rock band with three others from St Birinus School - and they are still playing together.

But instead of being a warm-up band for groups like the Rolling Stones and Gerry and the Pacemakers, they nowadays play for weddings, anniversaries and dances.

The group consists of Mr Coxe on drums, John Hobbs on rhythm guitar and vocals, John Jeskins on bass, and John Evans on lead guitar. They made one record in the 1960s for Fontana just after the Great Train Robbery, so the company called them the Gangbusters and they still play under that name.

Mr Coxe said: "It's been an eventful life and I'm loving every minute of it."