TWO sisters have been reunited with their long-lost third sibling - 55 years after being separated.

Sadie Walsh, 61, and Diane Tutty, 58, from Fallowfield, Manchester, always knew Christine lived in America with their mother Norah, but had never been able to find them.

But they did not know that, across the Atlantic, Christine Pierceall was also trying to trace them.

Five years after discovering her mother had left two children back in England, 58-year-old Christine struck lucky when the Salvation Army found Sadie and Diane still living in Manchester.

Now the trio are catching up on the last five decades, piecing together what happened to the family in the 1940s. Christine, who now lives in Phoenix, Arizona, said: ''The father of Sadie and me died in 1943, and our mother married an American GI, Maurice, in 1945. In between, she gave birth to Diane.

''We were all living in Hulme when one day she left for America with Maurice, me and my half-brother. I never really knew why. The law said she could take only two children, so she left Sadie and Diane with their grandmother.

''I knew nothing about them until five years ago when I looked through my father's service records and have been searching for them ever since.''

Sadie said: ''I woke up one morning and my family had gone. Diane was too young to remember. We were brought up by our grandmother until she died and then spent time at Styal Orphanage and with foster families. I always knew Christine was in America somewhere but had no idea where.''

In July, Sadie received a phone call, after a letter from the Salvation Army said someone was trying to get in touch. ''I was just watching TV,'' she said. ''I was so amazed, I just wasn't expecting it. All I could say was, 'I'm in shock, call me back in a few days'. Since then, we've been talking every other day.''

Diane started looking for her mother when she was 16 but never got the chance to meet her again as she died three years ago.

She said: ''It was very emotional when we first met Christine at the airport. We get on so well. We're now hoping to go to America and meet the rest of the family, because Christine has five sons and 12 grandchildren.''

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