IT WAS the moment she had waited 56 years for - but it was if they had never been apart.

When Rita Lange gave the GI Joe father she had never met her first hug, it seemed to wipe away the years.

For more than 20 years she had yearned to know who her daddy was, and now - after travelling thousands of miles across the Atlantic - at last father and daughter have been reunited.

Back at home after a whirlwind two-week trip to meet her dad and more than 50 relatives in America, Rita said: "It was absolutely wonderful. My first hug from my dad was everything I dreamed it would be and my dad was all I had imagined and more.

"When we went out he held my hand and I felt like a little girl - it made up for all the years without him."

Rita's dad Rafe Evans was among thousands of US soldiers who came to serve in Britain in the 1940s.

He fell for Rita's mother while stationed at Hursley, near Winchester, in 1944, but he left England two months before Rita was born in 1946.

Rita, of New Road, Netley Abbey, finally found her dad through voluntary organisation Trace, Trans-atlantic Children's Enterprise, in 1996.

But she couldn't afford the flight to Detroit to make her dream of meeting him come true - until last month when she was handed a plane ticket after appearing on TV's Richard and Judy show.

Before her trip of a lifetime Rita told the Daily Echo she had "always felt different growing up because there was always something missing".

Rita, who has three grown-up children and a six-year-old grandson, said: "When I arrived at the airport I saw a crowd and a 'Welcome Rita' sign and then I saw a tall man at the back of the crowd. He came forward and I knew straight away it was my dad, so I just ran to him.

"While I was out there I met the rest of the family and they welcomed me with open arms."

Thirty of Rita's new-found relatives, including her half-brother Carl, threw a party for her during her two-week stay, and she was given a cake with "We Love You Rita" iced on the top.

"I was thoroughly spoiled. Dad said he felt so proud of me," said Rita.

"At last I just feel contented - it's the final piece of the jigsaw. I didn't even ask him why he didn't find me because it didn't matter."

Rafe said: "It was really lovely to meet Rita. All the family met her and they just fell in love with her.

"I never thought I would meet her but I did and it was beautiful."

Rafe, 81, is now planning to visit Rita in September and she has vowed to hire Eastleigh Town Hall so he can have a dance with her mother Rhoda Piskorz, 76, of Blenheim Road, Eastleigh.