The last time Dennis Nieseigh was in South Africa was at the end of the Second World War, but he remembers the visit and the friends he made.

In the summer he will return to Cape Town and meet some of them again after a gap of 60 years -- and one in particular.

Mr Nieseigh, 79, of Fir Tree Avenue, Wallingford, is looking forward to meeting a girl he knew then, Yvonne Monje, who was a greengrocer's daughter.

Mr Nieseigh will be returning under the Big Lottery Fund's Heroes Return scheme allowing veterans to return to places which were important to them in the war.

He flies out from Gatwick in July for the 16-day visit, accompanied by his wife Beryl, 83, and son Christopher, 56.

He said: "I was 18 years old when I signed up with the Royal Navy and did my training in Plymouth.

"I was sent to Sumatra, Rangoon, Calcutta and Bombay on escort duty.

"I served in the Far East and the Indian Ocean and then the ship was sent to Cape Town early in 1945.

"In Cape Town I met lots of local people.

"In particular there was Yvonne Monje whose father ran a greengrocery business in town.

"I recently had the idea to write to the mayor of Cape Town with details of the people I'd met.

"The local paper printed it and I got letters back from some of them -- and they included Yvonne.

"She now lives in Durban.

"The plan is that I will ring her when we get to South Africa and we'll meet again for the first time in 60 years. That will be amaz- ing."

Mrs Nieseigh said: "It will be a very emotional experience for everyone. We're all looking forward to the trip."