Ring discovery gives closure to family of lost UK WWII pilot

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Sgt. John Thompson, a British World War II special operation pilot, was considered missing in action for more than 70 years. Not anymore.

On Monday, his 92-year-old sister Dorothy Webster received his ring from a family in Albania together with a box of debris from his Halifax bomber that crashed in the eastern European country on Oct. 29, 1944 whilst transporting assistance to the local anti-Nazi fighters.

In 1960, late Jaho Cala found Thompson’s finger with the ring at the Sinoi Mountain, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Albanian capital Tirana. He kept the ring hidden, afraid to show it to the then-communist authorities, and asked his son Xhemil to look for his family.

Xhemil contacted the British embassy, which confirmed the ring was Thompson’s and told his family.