Joe Oakes spent 35 years thinking his older brother was dead, until two months ago when he saw him on the television after dinner.
"I couldn't believe it... I was sitting in front of the TV and all of a sudden it came on... and I went, that's my brother!"
World War II veteran Ben Oakes, 102, was being interviewed for a centenarian edition on Three's The Project when he was spotted.
Years of living abroad and drifting apart led to the brothers completely losing touch.
Two months after the episode aired, the pair have reconnected.
"All these years I'd thought that perhaps he'd passed on," Ben Oakes said. "Everybody in my family seemed to have gone. I appeared to be more or less on my own.
"Meeting him was living again.
"Not knowing the time we have with feet on the ground… if I could spend as much time with this guy and family, I'll be the happiest man to put my wings on when the time comes."
Newshub.
