After more than 70 years of separation, an 88-year-old British woman is looking forward to a reunion with her younger brother.

Olive Winstone of Penarth last saw her brother Sydney Adler when she left home Worcestershire at age 16 in pursuit of a job in an ammunition factory near Haverford west.

The great grandmother got a letter recently from her brother, Adler, who now lives in Tamworth, Staffordshire. He learned his sister was still alive when a niece decided to trace the family tree, The South Wales Echo reported.

Winstone had a troubled childhood after losing her mother at age 9 and helping her coal miner father look after the six brothers and sisters who still lived at home.

After she left home as a teenager, she found it impossible to keep in contact with her family and gradually lost touch.

"I couldn't go to school properly because I had to look after everyone," she said. "I used to go one week in the mornings and the next week in the afternoons."

Sydney was six when Winstone left home. Her daughter planned to drive her to Tamworth Saturday to reunite her with her long lost brother.