Former Royal Marine Bill Gill is preparing to shake hands for the first time with the American sailor who saved his life more than 60 years ago.

Mr Gill, from Saltdean, Brighton, was one of 72 survivors from a crew of nearly 500 attacked by a German U-boat which sank their light cruiser HMS Dunedin in the South Atlantic in 1941.

Survivors spent 78 hours adrift in life rafts before the US merchant ship Nishmaha picked them up.

The American seaman who first spotted them, Roy Murray, now 86 and living in Texas, is flying to the UK in June to meet up with Mr Gill and other survivors and their families for the first time.

Mr Gill, 84, said he was not sure how he would react when he meets Mr Murray but told The Argus: "I think I'll shake his hand and say thank you."

Two other Dunedin survivors, Jim Davies and Les Barter, will join Mr Gill at the reunion in Southsea, Hampshire.

It was made possible when a relative of Mr Murray, a Third Mate on the Nishmaha, discovered the Dunedin Society's web site earlier this year.

Mr Gill, the society's president, yesterday recalled the events of those fateful days in 1941.

He was off duty and lying down when the two torpedos struck. He scrambled up ladders, jumped into the sea and climbed on to a life raft.

The Dunedin took jut 17 minutes to sink and survivors paddled away fast to avoid being sucked under with it.

They watched as the German U-boat circled the rafts, not knowing if they were going to be fired on by the Germans.

They sang There'll Always Be An England as the U-boat submerged and sailed away.

There were 22 men on his raft but only Mr Gill and two others were alive when they were rescued.

With no food, water or medical supplies, many died from injuries or drowned in the shark-infested waters.

Mr Gill remembers the heartache and sadness as they tipped the dead into the sea to make more room for the living.

Some people went mad under the searing sun. One crewman swam away and returned to announce he'd found a cafe serving tea and beer.

Mr Gill had to fight the temptation to drink sea water: "I splashed it on my face because I was burning up in the sun and had to keep telling myself 'don't drink it, I must not drink'."

Mr Gill and 71 others were picked up on America's Thanksgiving Day by the Nishmaha but five died before they made it to port in Trinidad on the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour.

Mr Gill was full of praise for the Nishmaha crew and those who cared for him in Trinidad.

He returned to serve for the duration of the war as a sergeant and military training instructor.

He married former Royal Marine Wren Isabella, 81, in 1946. The couple settled in East Preston, near Littlehampton, before buying a general store in Elm Grove, Brighton.

Mr Gill, whose brother Eric played for Brighton and Hove Albion in the Fifties, became a furniture salesman before he retired.

His son Stuart wrote a book, Blood in the Sea, telling the Dunedin story.

Mr Gill said he was not bothered by nightmares or flashbacks but he was occasionally reminded of his ordeal.

He said: "We went on holiday to America and I can remember going into this small swimming pool.

"I walked in at the shallow end and looked towards the deep end and, suddenly, I couldn't move.

"I've been swimming a lot but I had the feeling I couldn't swim out of my depth."

Mr Gill said he does get emotional now and then and meeting his saviour next month is bound to be one of those occasions.

He said: "I might even give him a cuddle."