A Pickering man has been reunited with the sweetheart he last saw 60 years ago.

And after all these years, their youthful romance has been rekindled - thanks to the intervention of a Dutch jazz band.

Joe Passey, 78, first met Martha Innemee, now 77, when he was 18 years old.

Mr Passey, who then lived in Barnet, Hertfordshire, was leading a patrol of Scouts at the 1937 world jamboree in Holland.

"The public were allowed in, and of course, all the lads were looking at all the girls, and one girl seemed to like me."

"We exchanged addresses and kept in touch up until the war, when Germany invaded Holland."

Mr Passey served in the war, and was even stationed in Holland, but did not get the opportunity to visit The Hague, where Martha lived.

After the war, he wrote to her old address, but got no reply.

In the intervening years, Mr Passey, who worked for a pharmaceutical company, also pursued a career as a semi-professional musician, playing double bass in big bands and jazz clubs. After his retirement, he moved to Pickering and became chairman of Pickering Jazz Festival.

At last year's festival, Mr Passey met a band from the Netherlands, and told them the story. They told it on a radio programme, and it was mentioned in a magazine in Holland and incredibly, Martha got back in touch with him.

During the war, her family had been turned out of their house by the Germans, and they had moved to another address.

She had spent the war years working as a typist at The Hague. In the 60 years since they last saw each other, both had been married and widowed - and they both have three children and are grandparents.

They have visited each other's countries, and Mr Passey confirmed that romance had blossomed.

"I don't want to uplift my roots in this country and I don't think she does either, but as long as we can spend some time here and some time there, it's good," he said.

see COMMENT 'So touching'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.