A WAR hero who spent four days lying helpless in his house after fracturing a hip alerted his neighbour by using his foot to tap out SOS in Morse code.

Eighty-year-old Maltese George Cross winner Alex Carmichael was finally rescued when neighbour Richard Lysakowski recognised the knocking as a cry for help.

Mr Lysakowski alerted medics, who took the pensioner to Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital for surgery.

Now Alex, of Welbeck Avenue, Hove, believes he was saved by his years of naval training.

He said: "I went out to feed the birds in the garden but I slipped on some old leaves and fell on to the patio. When I tried to stand up, I did the same thing again.

"I lay on my back for about five hours, trying to call out to passers-by, but no one came, so I decided to crawl on my back into the house.

"In the end, four days later, my neighbour came round and I used my foot to try and tap out an SOS in morse code on the wall of my porch. He looked inside and could see I was there."

Richard, 70, a former Polish Military Police officer, became concerned when Alex failed to leave his house for his normal daily walks.

He said: "This particular weekend I had terrible pains in my knees, so I was unable to go out.

"I could see that Alex wasn't outside like he usually was, so I tried to call him a few times, but his answerphone wasn't on.

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"Finally, after about three days, I was able to go out to get some cigarettes and as I was passing Alex's house I could see he had not collected his milk or papers.

"I went up to the door, but couldn't open it with my key because Alex had left his in it on the other side. Then I heard the sound of a Morse code message being tapped out, and I realised I could see Alex's leg through the glass."

Alex, who is secretary of the Ex-Chiefs and Petty Officers Association, HMS Sussex, won a string of war medals.

He said: "I was a Chief Petty Officer on the battleship HMS Nelson when it was torpedoed.

"I won the Atlantic Star and the Pacific Star, as well as the Maltese George Cross, which I got for helping deliver food and ammunition to Malta during a heavy barrage."

But despite his wartime heroics, he says his latest ordeal was a nightmare.

He said: "On the last night I was lying on the floor in the house I was hallucinating. I was beginning to give up hope.

"When they got me to the hospital they had to put me on a drip for three days before they could operate, because I was so dehydrated and I had yellow jaundice.

"Now I've got a nine-inch pin in my right hip. I'd never been in hospital before in my life and now I'm having to use a walking stick.

"But the staff on Lancing Ward at Brighton General Hospital were excellent."

To show their appreciation, the Ex-Chiefs and Petty Officers Association, HMS Sussex, is presenting the ward sister with a £400 cheque for a new TV and video tomorrow.

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