A NORTH Shropshire man’s research into his family history has led to an unlikely trip to a care home to talk about the Second World War.

Simon Kovach, from Weston-under-Redcastle, near Wem, has been on a quest to discover more about his late grandfather Alec Sykes’s war record.

This has led him to plan a trip to Northampton – in the East Midlands – later in July to meet 103-year-old Jack Waterfield.

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Jack, who lives at a care home managed by Anchor, may have served with Alec Sykes in Gibraltar during the war and now Simon has the chance to pick his brains on items he has read while transcribing his wartime diary.

An Anchor spokesman said: “Alec’s diary describes his time as an LAC (Leading Aircraftman) Fitter and starts from October 20, 1942, running with regular updates until May 28, 1946.

“It is a gripping, fascinating and frequently harrowing first-hand graphically described account of wartime service on the front line, accompanied by numerous contemporary pictures.

“Simon – himself a former RAF pilot and Squadron Leader – is now set to visit Jack at his home at Anchor’s Timken Grange care home in Duston, Northampton, for lunch on July 18 and hopes to learn more about wartime in Gibraltar and North Africa through the memory of one of the last surviving veterans.”

The transcription appears to refer several times to a “Jock” but grandad Alec’s writing is not always clear and it could be Jack Waterfield that Alec was referring to.

As part of his quest, Simon also recently met with two authors who had interviewed Jack about General Sikorski’s fatal plane crash in 1943. The authors believed one of the pictures in Alec Sykes’ diary to be Jack and passed on his contact details to Simon.

Simon asked Anchor colleagues at Timken Grange to pass on scans of Alec’s diary to Jack and the 103-year-old wrote with enthusiasm to Simon in response and invited him to visit – which has led to the meeting on July 18.

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Jack wrote: “If you want to see me sometime, I can explain all to you, I have lots to tell about North Africa, Italy and the short time in Palestine after war in Europe.”

Louise Mulvany, Timken Grange manager, said: “It really is a lovely story and hopefully Simon will be able to learn a lot more about Alec’s wartime life and they might be able to work out whether Jack and Alec knew each other or served together.

“Who knows what will come out of their meeting? The story is very exciting for everyone who has been touched by it.”