TWO veteran soldiers from twin towns in England have recently been reunited after 51 years.

Sgt Doug Taylor, from Horwich, and Cpl Bill Leach, from Horwich's twin town of Crowborough, Sussex, last saw each other in Germany in 1946.

They met up again at the first reunion of 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment, in Bristol, on May 31.

Appropriately, the reunion took place in the town where the regiment was founded.

It was held at the Patchway Leisure Centre and then The British Legion, and was the result of three years' organisation.

Contact was made three years ago in The Legion magazine via "Lost Trails", a section that reunites old friends. Sgt Taylor spotted a plea from a member of his former regiment.

From this, he then contacted Cpl Leach and the remaining 35 guests were invited to a nostalgic and sometimes tearful reunion, as the 280 soldiers of the regiment who lost their lives in the war were remembered.

On a happier note, Sgt. Taylor, aged 79, presented his friend, who fought with him in France, Normandy, Belgium and Holland, with a copy of M. D. Smith's book "About Horwich" signed by the then Mayor of Horwich, Cllr Mrs Barbara Ronson.

Another reunion is planned for later this year, to take place in the North of England, as some of the regiment were unable to attend, or could not be contacted.

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