The family of a British pilot considered missing in action for more than 70 years have finally been reunited with the ring he was wearing when his plane crashed . The plane special operation pilot Sgt John Thompson was flying crashed in Albania on October 29 , 1944 whilst transporting assistance to local anti-Nazi fighters . Today , 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 . Scroll down for video . 70 years later : Albanian Xhemil Cala , right , puts the ring of the deceased 23-year old British pilot Sgt . John Thompson , onto the finger of his sister Dorothy Webster in Tirana , Albania today . In 1960 , Jaho Cala found Mr Thompson 's finger with the ring on it at Sinoi Mountain , 25 miles north of the Albanian capital Tirana . He kept the ring and hid it at his home , afraid to show it to the then-communist authorities . Mr Cala asked his son Xhemil to look for the family of the owner , and after his father died , Xhemil contacted the embassies of the US and Britain - the two countries that helped liberate Albania from the Nazis a month after Mr Thompson 's death . After three months , the British embassy confirmed the ring was Mr Thompson 's and told his family . Ms Webster , a year younger than her brother , was accompanied by four of his nephews and other family members at a ceremony at the Albanian Defence Ministry today . The ring was recovered with Sgt John Thompson 's finger in 1960 25 miles north of the Albanian capital Tirana . 'She was over the moon when they told us , ringing everybody , ' Ms Webster 's son Brian said . 'Our grandfather and grandmother never locked the house in Matlock , Derbyshire , waiting for their missed son . ' British authorities never told them anything about their uncle 'because he was part of a secret operation in Albania ' , according to Philip Thompson , one of the nephews . Dorothy Webster , with a box of debris from her brother 's Halifax bomber , which crashed in the eastern European country in 1944 . The ring was found at Sinoi Mountain ( pictured ) , 25 miles north of the Albanian capital Tirana . Sgt John Thompson crashed in Albania whilst transporting assistance to local anti-Nazi fighters in a Handley Page Halifax bomber ( like model above )
Second World War fighter Sgt ray Thompson died in Albania in 1960 . In 1960 Albanian police found Mr Thompson 's finger with the ring on it . He threw it away but before dying told son , Xhemil Cala , to try to find owner . After a lengthy search , the ring was presented to the pilot 's 92-year - old sister Dorothy Webster today in Tirana .