pupil-teacher re-united after 70 years

My name is John Gresham. (Aged 82). Originally a New Zealander – resident in UK since 1960 in Tunbridge Wells One Sunday morning in 2007 I went to my local newsagent to collect my Sunday papers when I got into conversation with an elderly New Zealand lady and her daughter who were on holiday in the UK and passing through Tunbridge Wells for just a few hours on that one day only. It transpired that she was the wife of my old prep school master in NZ. This man held particular importance for me because owing to a disrupted early life my education had been neglected to the point that when I joined his class in 1936 at the age of 7 I could scarcely read or write. His unstinting care and personal attention meant that within one year I had caught up with the standard for my age. He left a year later and I was told he had joined the RAF. His name was Wing Commander Hayden Hugh Miller OBE, DFC, AFC .He fought the whole war in bomber command as one of the most highly decorated airmen of WW2 and 4 times mentioned in Dispatches reg no. 43041. On my return to NZ 1954-60 I had made several attempts to contact him but had failed and so had assumed, he like so many of those brave pilots had not survived the war. However that chance meeting in 2007 enabled me to find out that he was still alive but not fit enough to travel. It allowed me to write to him to express my sincere gratitude for helping me at such a critical time in my life. We corresponded until his death in 2009. Part of my letter was read out at his funeral which was attended by relatives and friends from all over the world. Between my time at school and this meeting was separated by over 70 years, and 12,000 miles. And the chance of how many millions that we should end up in the same place for the 5 minutes It took for me to buy my paper during those few hours that they were in a place they had never visited before and were just passing through. There are several other strange co-incidences that we discovered relating to that meeting - people in common, an appearance on the same radio programme in NZ several years apart etc. Should you need any further information. My contact details are John Gresham, Flat 5, Piermont House, 32-34 High Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1XF