A pensioner is to be welcomed back to Berlin with open arms - despite the fact he helped bomb the city during the Second World War, writes Stephen Deal.

John Chapman, 75, was also part of the Berlin airlift three years after the end of the war, when he helped ensure essential supplies reached two million people living in the isolated western half of the city.

Without the so-called "candy bombers", thousands of people could have starved as the Soviet Union tried to cut off road and rail links into Berlin at the beginning of the Cold War. Now the Drayton pensioner, a former flight engineer with the RAF, has been invited back with 200 other veterans of the airlift - and will even take part in a special parade at the Olympic Stadium.

Mr Chapman, of Whitehorns Way, Drayton, said: "It is quite ironic that the people of Berlin are paying for us to go back, despite the fact we were bombing the city during the Second World War.

"It's obviously going to look a lot different from how I remember it," he added. In 1948, a rift developed between the Soviet Union and their former Allies, leading to the Russians severing overland communication routes to the then German capital.

As a result, an 11-month operation was launched by the RAF and US Air Force to fly in coal, newsprint and food.

Mr Chapman explained: "It was the biggest airlift that's ever happened - even more than anything that is happening in the Balkans nowadays.

"They would have starved without the aid, and did for a bit." He added: "I'm really looking forward to going back there. The circumstances are obviously a lot better this time."

The cost of the four-day trip is being met by the Airlift Gratitude Foundation and veterans will come not only from Britain and the US but also France, South Africa and Australia.

Mr Chapman said: "There will apparently be 50,000 in the Olympic Stadium for a big memorial, which should be quite something."

The pensioner, who has four great-grandchildren, will be travelling to Germany with his 53-year-old wife Diana.

Story date: Tuesday 06 April

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