A war veteran who took part in an assault on Nazi positions in 1945 returned to the site in Germany 57 years later and was stunned to unearth a Sten gun in a muddy field.

John Rayson flew a troop-carrying glider at the Crossing of the Rhine. He said he and Will were astonished when they stumbled across the rusty relic during a visit to the spot where the aircraft touched down.

The former RAF Flight Lieutenant, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was attached to the Glider Pilot Regiment for Operation Varsity, during which 14,000 troops were flown into the German-held east bank of the Rhine.

The 77-year-old revealed how the weapon, used by British forces in the Second World War, was found by his youngest son Will, 40, after they travelled to the battle zone near Wesel earlier this year.

"My son and I went over there for me to show him where I landed my glider and eventually we found the area," the pensioner said.

"The exact spot was a couple of fields away and we walked across to it.

"I was telling my son how we came under fire and he said, 'I wish I could find an empty cartridge or something', and I told him not to be stupid as the battle was more than 50 years ago.

"I started to walk away and he called out, 'Father, I have found a gun'."

Mr Rayson initially thought his son was joking but turned to see that he had uncovered the rusty remains of a Sten gun, minus its stock.

The gun is now set to go on display at the Museum of Army Flying in Middle Wallop, near Stockbridge, in Hampshire.