What became of the boy who Bob rescued in his RAF days?

In 1965 Mr Webb, now 74, of Radford Road, Leamington, pulled the boy out of a sewage processing unit and resuscitated him before an ambulance arrived.

Mr Webb, who was a 28-year-old mechanic serving in the RAF at the time, received an award for his actions from the Royal Humane Society.

But he does not recall the boy’s name.

He said: “It was something I had done and had since put aside.

“The certificate and photo have been out of sight for years and then I pulled them out and it’s something I’m very proud of.

“I just want to know if the lad had a successful life, what he has done and what sort of a recovery he made.

“He was about ten or 12 so he would be in his 50s now I’d imagine.

“He was a neighbour but I was a different rank to his father and we worked in different places so we didn’t really know them.”

The rescue took place near the married quarters attached to RAF Gaydon, which have since made way for Lighthorne Heath.

Mr Webb and his wife Doreen were talking to friends outside their house in Stratford Road when a group of youngsters approached and told them their friend had fallen in the unit at a sewage works about 70 yards away.

Mr Webb jumped into the deep, filthy, water and used his feet to find the boy at the bottom of the tank.

He said: “I went into autopilot, but when I got him out my mind went blank because I was so relieved to have found him.

“I was so relieved to have got him out then within seconds my training kicked in.

“I thought he was dead and then when he started breathing I got feeling inside you can’t explain. I don’t know whether it was just adrenaline.”

A parade was held at the airfield almost a year later at which Mr Webb received the award from his commanding officer group captain Knight.

Mr Webb left the RAF shortly after, having served with the air force since 1953.

Mrs Webb said: “I thought Bob was very brave when he rescued the boy but it is what you would always expect of him.”

Anybody with information about the boy can email [email protected] or call 457706.