The granddaughter of an Australian prisoner of war has issued a plea to find the Aberdeen family who showed him kindness after his ordeal.
Harold Austin Dare enlisted in the armed forces in 1940 and soon after was sent overseas to fight in World War II.
But after brief campaigns in Syria and Libya the soldier was captured by the Germans in Crete.
He was shipped off to a Greek prisoner of war camp before being taken in a cattle car to Germany.
In the final stages of the war, he was made to work in a Polish coal mine then became one of 80,000 prisoners forced to march through Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany in the extreme winter.
Mr Dare was liberated by American troops in 1945 and spent some time in the north-east recuperating before making his way back home to Sydney.
Last week his granddaughter, Jenny Mathieson, was sorting through a box of prized possessions she had inherited from him.
And among the items included a small leather box with an unexpected link to Aberdeen.
She said: “It looks a little like something that you might put jewellery into and is made from brown leather.
“It was the first time I had seen this and when I opened it inside the lid it said: G Adan, 734 Great Northern Road, Aberdeen, Scotland.
“I believe that G Adan or his family may have given this to my grandfather and I think it might be nice for these people to have this piece of history returned to them.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact pj.newsdesk@ajl.co.uk
