A Great Wyrley war veteran who commissioned a memorial replica of the notorious Sumatra railway was reunited with a fellow prisoner of war for the first time in 56 years at its unveiling. 'We sat together and nattered' - Jack Plant Jack Plant was amazed to spot Jim Surr, who made a 400-mile round trip from Yorkshire, across the restaurant at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas yesterday. The 83 year-old said; "We hadn't seen each other for 56 years. It was a remarkable meeting. We quickly sat together and nattered." More than 700 prisoners of war who lost their lives while building the Sumatra railway were honoured at the VJ Day ceremony near Lichfield.

Japanese ambassador Sadayuki Hayashi travelled to the arboretum while Mr Plant, one of the few remaining British Sumatra veterans also took centre stage when he unveiled his own replica section of the railway. More than 700 Allied PoWs and thousands of Indonesians died during the construction of the 200km line, which was never used, after being captured by Japanese occupying forces in 1944. A special service was held at the arboretum's Millennium Chapel before Japanese and British schoolchildren joined Mr Hayashi and the Bishop of Coventry, the Right Reverend Colin Bennetts, in a tree planting ceremony. An enormous reconciliation stone monument was also unveiled, followed by the dedication of the replica railway. Mr Plant won the support of Railtrack and the Forest Enterprise for the project build as a lasting tribute to his dead colleagues.