AN Australian will fly across the world to say a big thank you to a Malvern man who saved his father's life during the Second World War.

Charles Williams pulled airman Stanley Morris from his burning Beaufighter plane after an engine fault forced him to crash-land in Guarlford in 1944.

Now the pilot's son, Bob, will thank Mr Williams - who was working on a farm nearby when the crash happened - when he returns to Britain for the first time since leaving as a baby.

Speaking from his Sydney home, Bob, whose father died in 2001, said the meeting would be a poignant occasion.

"It'll be wonderful to meet Charles after all these years. Without him, I wouldn't be here and nor would my four kids," he said.

"I want to say thanks for the bravery and heroism he showed. This is a man that went into a burning plane loaded with weaponry after being told by the navigator there was no chance of saving my father."

The two men were put in touch after Mr Morris's relative in Cheshire asked the Evening News' sister paper, the Malvern Gazette, for help in finding Mr Williams.

Mr Williams risked his life to unhook Mr Morris's seat and pull him to safety while the ammunition the plane was carrying began to explode.

Mr Williams, of Sherrards Green, received a British Empire Medal from King George VI for his bravery, as well as a telegram and a Christmas cake from Mr Morris in Australia.

''After racing across three fields I arrived to find a chap behind a tree. I thought he could be a German but he was actually the navigator. He told me the pilot was still inside, so I went in and pulled him out, seat and all," he said.

"I could've sworn he was dead because of the blood bubbling out of his mouth. It turned out to be coming from his throat after he'd swallowed his false teeth.

"It's a shame Stanley has passed away, but it'll be nice to meet the family."

Mr Morris was given only a 10 per cent chance of surviving during his first week in hospital with a broken pelvis, a badly lacerated arm and severe burns.

But he returned to Australia nine months later, having made a full recover, and then worked as a clerk at the Ministry of Defence, retiring at 60.

"The injuries took their toll, but he was still a strong man. If you came up to him in the street you wouldn't have known that he had been involved in a plane crash," his son said.