Dan Johnston was just seven years old when the tragic death of his mother led to the break up of his family.

His five brothers and sisters were all sent their separate ways when their mother Florence was found dead in her Woodhouse Road, Keighley, home, aged just 39.

Now, as he prepares to celebrate his 70th birthday on October 31, Dan and four of his siblings will meet under the same roof for the first time since they were split up in 1940.

He will be joined by sisters Margaret, Kathleen and Florence, as well as brother Gerald for the reunion. His other brother, Peter, had hoped to join them, but had already arranged to visit his son in Australia.

Dan, who now lives in Shipley, said: "Five of us met up at my niece's wedding a few years back but Margaret wasn't there, so it will be the first and, possibly last, time the five of us have the chance to meet together.

"We all know where each other is and we can pick up the phone and know someone will be on the other end, but we didn't grow up as a normal family and have grown apart. It would have been nice to have a nice normal family life, but there's no good looking back and wishing."

The disintegration of the family began when Dan's father, Peter, a soldier serving in France at the time, did not return to look after his children, even though he had come back to Keighley for the inquest into his wife's death. A report of the inquest in the April 13 edition of the Keighley News in 1940 described it as a "pathetic case".

A neighbour, Harry Baker, heard knocking from next door on the evening of April 6. Knowing Mrs Johnston was unwell he and his wife went around to investigate. They found her sitting up in bed with eyes and mouth open.

Dan recalled: "I remember that following my mother's death myself and Kathleen had the measles and we were put into isolation at Morton Banks Hospital.

"When everything had cleared up they put myself, Kath, Margaret and Gerald into a children's home in Nashville Road, with my youngest sister, Florence, and youngest brother, Peter, being put into St John's.

"The four of us were together until 1943 when they decided to split the home into boys' and girls'. After that we became separated.

"I remember in 1946, just before I left the home, going to a camp in Pateley Bridge and having to pair up with a girl from another home to go into the cinema. The camp leader called us over and told me the girl I was standing next to was my sister Kathleen."

"I last saw my father in 1943 when he left for Burma and the last time I heard from him was in 1954 when he returned a letter I had sent.

"I don't know much about my father other than he was a tall red-haired man who was born in Belfast, was employed by the public works department in Keighley and served in the army."

After joining Ghyll Royd School, in Ilkley, as a garden lad at the age of 14, Dan enlisted in the army and then joined his brother Gerald, who was serving in Malaysia.

"I joined the 12th Royal Lancers and we served together for three years in Malaysia, but we only met twice as we were split from each other," he said.

"My brother Peter was adopted by a family in Doncaster, but he managed to trace me in 1959 when I was with the Paratroop Regiment in Thornbury Barracks."

Since then Dan has kept in touch with Margaret, who still lives in Keighley, and Kathleen, who lives close to him in Shipley.

After losing contact with his youngest sister, Florence, who was brought up by a family in Wakefied, he regained touch and visited her in her new home town of Blackpool.

He still maintains contact with brothers Peter and Gerald, who live in Doncaster and Hartlepool respectively.

"Because we were separated for so long we have each got our own families and our own stories to tell," added Dan.