IT'S 3am and the phone rings - three schoolchildren have been deserted by their parents without food.

Twelve thousand miles from his home town of Southampton, Ernest Gale steps into the night air of Christchurch, New Zealand, as the only man available for the task.

"It's a 48-hour job," said Ernest, 75, of the care work he has tirelessly performed since arriving in the commonwealth country 50 years ago.

Ernest was born in Southampton in 1927 and attended Eastern District School in Chapel with his younger brother Ron.

At the height of the Second World War he left school to do his bit for the merchant navy.

"If I had finished a year earlier I wouldn't be here now," he confided. "So many sailors were killed trying to get supplies to our allies in Russia."

After the war an opportunity arose to emigrate to New Zealand, where he has lived ever since.

"But we're keeping the Chapel tradition alive," he said, referring to the tremendous community spirit that thrived in the east of the Itchen district.

Even after the allied victory, food was scarce in Southampton.

For years the father-of-five sent food parcels to his mother and family back home.

After a second stint in the merchant navy in New Zealand, Ernest set up his own decorating firm.

But he has never stopped helping the needy around him, whether in England or New Zealand.

Now retired from decorating, he continues to work for the International Missionary Society as a publicity officer.

Health education is the most important aspect of their work ,along with some of the Bible's teachings.

In the future, he hopes to set up a respite home like Netley's Winged Fellowship Trust in Southampton, which helps disabled people and their carers from all over the country to take a well-needed break once in a while.

Ernest is currently back in Englandvisiting his sister Nell, 91, and brother Ron, 73. As a young man he had two more brothers, Bill and Harry, and another sister, Beatrice.

His wife Joan, 77, remains in New Zealand with their 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.