EXETER, N.H. (AP) – A chance encounter at a local bank has brought together two World War II veterans whose paths crossed once before – at a prisoner of war camp nearly 60 years ago.

When Howard Tunstill spotted Bill Smallwood’s POW license plate outside a bank, he went inside to find what he described as “another old fart.”

What he discovered was that Smallwood had been held at the very camp that Tunstill helped liberate decades ago.

Smallwood’s plane was shot down in 1944 during his 15th mission in a B-17 bomber as a member of the 15th Air Force. In May 1945, as sounds of Russian artillery shells came closer, his German captors fled. Soon after, Tunstill arrived to evacuate the POW camp.

After spending a day sharing photos and stories, the two men, now in their 80s, aren’t leaving their next meeting to chance. They already have plans to get together again.