The first gathering, four years ago, came about after a newspaper feature prompted retired police officer, Basil Kybird, to glance through an old photograph album and wonder to himself "Where are they now?"

With help from some old telephone directories, he began the task of making contact with some of his old school chums and that in turn led to a reunion

"There were lots of phone calls and from nothing I managed to build up a list of 40 names in that first year.

"Since then we've managed to find a total of 95 old pupils, but sadly, many of them are ill and some are no longer with us, so what we had this year was a nucleus of the devotees," said Mr Kybird, who also voices his dry sense of humour by adding "It's a good job everyone wears a name tag too or there'd be quite a few I wouldn't recognise."

This year's event was attended by 37 former pupils and there was one "newcomer" John Swain, who was traced to Thetford.

"I found most people through the telephone directory and for every call I made I'd hear about one or two more and it snowballed from there," said Mr Kybird, a pupil at the Ryston End school between 1942-45.

"My father was a policeman and we moved to Methwold when I was about 13.

"I never really got to know Downham that well because every day I had to catch a bus to and from school.

"And in 1946 my father moved to Norwich, and I didn't go back to Downham again until that first reunion four years ago.

"It was Downham Grammar School when I first started, but then it became known as the Secondary School.

"I don't remember learning a lot but they were good days and despite the war, I don't think we suffered much," said Mr Kybird, who recalls heading for the sites of air crashes with some of his Methwold friends.

"We did it without any thoughts of the horrors of war – we'd just be out there hunting for live ammunition and all sorts of souvenirs.

"I remember one crash near Methwold and there was an American policeman on guard with a machine gun.

"He told us to clear off and we told him this was our country, but when someone has a machine gun, you learn to listen, so we didn't stay long!"

The search for more pupils from those years still continues, much like an ongoing investigation.

"There are still some who are lost out there and I have tried, but I can't find them and it's very frustrating, so perhaps people will read this and if there are others we can put on the list, we'd love to know," says Mr Kybird.

He can be contacted on 01603 860356.