A PENSIONER is to be reunited with the long-lost brother he believed was dead - 64 years after they last met.

War veteran Len Strand, 79, from Stockton, has not seen his younger brother, Tony, since they were separated during the Second World War as teenagers.

They lived together in a children's home in London, but went their different ways when Len joined the Merchant Navy, while Tony was evacuated to Cornwall to escape the Nazi bombings.

After the war, Tony tried to trace his brother, but gave up the search after being told Len had been killed by a Nazi U-boat, which torpedoed his merchant ship when it was crossing the Atlantic.

But, all this time, Len has been alive and well - and living in Norton, near Stockton.

He had also tried to trace his brother, but, after more than half a century apart, had given up hope of ever seeing him again.

Then, in March, Len tried the Salvation Army's family-tracing service, and, to his utter astonishment, tracked down Tony in less than a month.

The 77-year old younger brother was fit and well, and living in sheltered accommodation in Suffolk.

Len, who lost his wife, Doreen, three years ago and never had children, said: "I couldn't believe it when I got the phone call from the Salvation Army to say they had found Tony.

"They said 'your brother will be calling you today'."

The brothers have spent the past week catching up over the phone and exchanging photos by post, and they are now preparing for an emotional reunion at a location halfway between their homes.

"Tony was very emotional when we first spoke on the phone," said Len. "The difference was, he thought I was dead, where as I always knew he was alive somewhere. It was like his brother had come back from the dead.

"But, I don't know what I'll be like after I meet him."

Despite being separated in their teens, the brothers have led surprisingly similar lives.

Like his brother, Tony also joined the Merchant Navy. He also married and never had children, but later divorced.

However, the brothers differ in their love of football. Tony has been a staunch Arsenal supporter all of his life, while Len adopted Middlesbrough as his team after moving to Teesside in the early 1950s, where he met his wife, married, and started working at ICI.