A French fisherman, looking among rock pools near the Mediterranean port of Marseille, has found a bracelet belonging to the distinguished French writer, and wartime fighter pilot, Antoine de Saint Exupery.

St.

Ex, as he became known to generations of French schoolchildren, disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 1944, flying an American fighter during the Allied advance against German forces.

The bracelet, on which the name of St Exupery's wife was engraved, was entwined with seaweed and a fragment of a flying suit.

He had flown from Corsica and may have been shot down by German anti-aircraft gunners.