An 89-year-old Royal Navy veteran is on his way back from Normandy after "going AWOL" from his care home to see the D-Day commemorations.
Police were called to the man's nursing home in Hove, Sussex, on Thursday night when staff realised he had gone out at 10.30am and had not been seen since.
Bernard Jordan, a former mayor of Hove, took part in the commemorations and has since been pictured with "Candy Girl" ferry staff on the way back to England.
Mr Jordan's care home denied reports it had banned him from making the trip.
Mr Jordan pictured on board the ferry home (Pic: Stephen Tuckwell) The pensioner was wearing his war medals when he left the Sussex town, but covered them up with a grey jacket and secretly boarded a coach to France.
Police initially searched the Hove area, speaking to bus and taxi companies and checking local hospitals in case something had happened to him.
Mr Jordan with a picture of when he was mayor (Pic: Gracewell Healthcare) Then, at 10.30pm on Thursday - 12 hours after he was last seen - a younger veteran called to say he had met the pensioner on a coach on the way to France.
He said the pair were sitting in a hotel in Ouistreham, Normandy, where world leaders have been mingling with veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Mr Jordan was heading home on Friday night and ferry staff member Sonia Pittam told Sky News the 89-year-old was "a game old boy".
She said: "He certainly has his wits about him, he didn't say much about the landings, just how pleased he was to be on board and couldn't believe how everyone was looking after them and all the people waving on the route to the harbour entrance.
"He kept saying 'all this for us?' I said 'that's as it should be', and he said he felt as though he was on a luxury cruise."
Mr Jordan's niece Susan Knowles said she was "very proud" of her uncle.
She told Sky News: "The last time I saw him would be at a family funeral that he made his way down to again, and we were all quite amazed that he'd made his way to Bournemouth to this family funeral, on the train, on his own.
"He sort of just came walking up and we were quite surprised to see him there, because of his age and that, we didn't expect him to be there.
"If he's determined to do something he will."
Care home boss Peter Curtis said staff at the home had tried to get Mr Jordan onto an accredited tour with the Royal British Legion but the request ended up being too last minute.
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