A former RAF engineer who recently returned to his base in Germany is appealing for former servicemen and women to come forward so they can get back in touch with their old colleagues.

Hubert Powell, who lives in Bartley Green, Birmingham, was a ground-based engineer for the target towing team on the German isle of Sylt between 1953 and 1956.

The 71-year-old, who worked on Mosquito, Meteor and Jet Provost aircraft before he left the RAF in 1958, met up with the other former RAF and WAAF veterans on his visit to Westerland, Sylt.

Mr Powell said: "We were treated like royalty when we arrived in Westerland, there was a massive banner at the train station greeting us when we arrived.

"We were staying at our old base and hardly anything had changed, the base cinema was still going and we saw our old billets and cookhouse. It was amazing how little had changed over the past 50 years, the memories came flooding back.

"The planes I worked on would drag flags in the air for the fighter pilots to perform target practice on. The Mosquitos were among the fastest in the RAF. I was amazed to meet up with so many colleagues who I'd not seen for almost 50 years."

Westerland, now an upmarket seaside resort for the Germans, was where one of the first bombing raids over Scotland and northern England took off from at the start of the Second World War.

During the war and the early post-war period, RAF and WAAF personnel boosted the town's population but many seemingly disappeared once they left the forces.

Mr Powell added: "We're still trying to find other people who worked in the RAF on Sylt during the 1950s, and there must still be quite of few of us out there.

"Most of us were in our late teens or early 20s at the time, but even now that camaraderie is still there, that's what I missed most when I came out of the RAF. So to be able to recapture that so far down the road is fantastic."

* For more information visit www.sylt.org.uk or call 0121 628 6947.