A wartime flying ace was horrified when he lost his medals on the way home after meeting Prince Charles.

Sir John Rogers travelled to London for the official unveiling of the memorial to Second World War pilots and crew.

He wore all his medals to Sunday's ceremony, including the Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to him by the Queen Mother.

But delight at exchanging stories with Prince Charles turned to heartache when 85-year-old Sir John, from Goring, near Worthing, noticed on the train on his way home that he had lost all the medals, which also included his MBE and three campaign medals.

He rang the police but resigned himself to never seeing his medal again.

But he had not counted on 38-year-old newspaper stand owner Hassan Najmi, who found them under a counter at his pitch at Victoria Station and handed them over to the police on his way home.

Now the medals are to be reunited with Sir John after a friend hunted them down.

Squadron leader Erica Ferguson was assigned as Sir John's helper during the unveiling as his wife Zuzzette was too ill to accompany him.

She said: "We had a lovely day and it was an honour to escort a war hero.

"In the evening he called me in a complete panic. I quickly arranged for a search of all the places he might have left his medals. Then I rang British Transport Police. Amazingly they already had a report of some medals being found.

"I was so relieved. You can only imagine how Sir John felt after receiving the news."

Father-of-two Mr Najmi said: "They had been picked up by my colleague and put under the counter for safekeeping.

"I thought at first they had come from a Chelsea pensioner. I visited the hospital but there was no one there so I handed them in at Chelsea police station.

"I am delighted he is to get them back. It is because of people like him that we have a good life today in Britain."

Sir John was trained to fly in Rhodesia in 1939. He was an RAF instructor in South Africa during the Battle of Britain.

Many of the fighter pilots who fought in 1940 received their initial training abroad.

Later he was posted to 74 Squadron based at Hornchurch in Essex and Tangmere in Sussex.

He then switched to Bomber Command and piloted Halifax bombers until six months before the end of the war when his aircraft was hit over Leipzig.

Four of his seven-strong crew died but Sir John baled out and was taken prisoner.

He said: "I would love to meet the person who handed in my medals - they mean the world to me and I just want to thank the man."

Sir John was one of about 100 surviving pilots and ground staff who looked on as the memorial was unveiled.

He said: "I have seen quite a few friends and the comradeship is still there.

"We're gradually dying out. There is a smaller party every year so this memorial is a good idea. Children should be able to come here on school trips and understand what we did."

The £1.65m monument was commissioned by the Battle of Britain Historical Society and funded by public subscription.