Two men who were born in the same Nazi internment camp have been reunited in Walton 73 years later.

Alex Maranzano and Mike Maranian were born in Vittel, France, where their parents were being held, weeks before the camp was liberated.

Alex’s parents were Italian nationals, and his father worked as a chef in the embassy in Paris, but were interned for not supporting Mussolini’s pact with Hitler.

In the camp, he cooked for the Italian prisoners.

Alex was born in November 1943 and Mike in April 1944, both delivered by the same Marionite order of sisters after Alex’s father asked for his wife to be allowed to give birth in the Vittel Palace, which was being used as a hospital for American prisoners of war.

Mike’s parents were British and Armenian and they lived in the Netherlands, running a Persian carpet business.

They were married just a week before the war began, and when the Nazis invaded they were separated; his father was taken to Poland and his mother to Liebenau.

It was not until three and a half years later that they were reunited in Vittel.

The pair, with Alex’s mother Iole, arranged to meet at Mike’s niece Samantha’s house in Walton, which is just 500 metres from where Iole lives.

Mike said: “It was very interesting because we were both born in unusual circumstances, and also to meet his mother. Most of the people I have met aren’t of that generation; they tend to be my age, so for me it was great to meet her.”

Alex said: “It was great meeting Mike. He had done a lot of research and knew the background of Vittel. I think it was really valuable to have my mum there, too.

“Her experience in Vittel began when she was 18, and ended when she was 21. She had to grow up so quickly.”

After the camp was liberated by the Americans, Captain Joseph Wall asked Mr Maranzano to stay behind and cook for them.

His work then took him all around Europe, including London, where Iole remembers the Queen being fond of the orange balls he made.

Mrs Maranzano, now 94, said her experience travelling shaped her life: “We are all human beings. All through my life I have known English people, German people, Italian people – everyone. That’s why I’m still alive and still here. We are all the same.

“We were born in different countries and into different ways of life, but we all have to work together.”