Tourist mistaken for Dambusters hero

A British tourist was given a civic reception by a Norwegian town after dignitaries mistook him for a Second World War hero.

David Wilson and his wife Deborah were greeted by the mayor of Tromso, TV cameras and a line-up of war veterans.

They were expecting Capt Paddy Gingles, part of the Dambusters 617 squadron, who bombed a Nazi warship off Norway in 1944.

However, instead, they got Mr Wilson, 47, who had travelled to the town to research Capt Gingles, his great uncle, who died more than 20 years ago.

Mr Wilson, a salesman from Penarth, near Cardiff, said: "We were given a full welcoming party. It was all a bit embarrassing really.

"It was a classic case of mistaken identity - but when I explained the confusion they took it very well."

The mix-up started when Mr Wilson rang the town's museum to say he was researching Capt Gingles's war heroics and asked if he could be shown around.

But word spread that ace pilot Capt Gingles himself was on his way to visit the scene of his bombing raid.

On arrival, Mr Wilson had to explain that he had never even met the former pilot before he died in 1988.

Tromso mayor Jens Joah Hjort said: "This has been fun and misunderstandings happen.

"The Wilsons were sorry for the mix up but it was not their fault. They went back to Wales as great ambassadors for Tromso."