Brierley Hill couple's 72 years of marriage after race to get wed

Like many servicemen about to serve in the Second World War, Horace jumped at the chance to marry his sweetheart Nancy before heading to Burma with the Royal Marines in 1942.

Officers gave the 21-year-old two days to propose and marry Nancy, then aged 19, at Dudley Register Office, before heading out, not knowing if he would come back.

Thankfully, Horace, now 93, returned following service in Burma, India and Singapore and the pair moved in together in a two-bedroom house in Mount Road in Wordsley and they soon became a family with the arrival of their son Michael.

The couple lived in the same house until just six months ago when they moved to Abbeygate Care Home, in Lays Road in Brierley Hill. It was there that they celebrated their 72th anniversary on Friday with a party put on by home owner Raj Sahadew.

Friday, Horace admitted that they may not have seen eye to eye at timesbut ultimately have enjoyed a happy time together.

"We have had our ups and downs, we have not always agreed on things, but we have always worked them out together," he said. "We've also remained active, going for walks a lot – that has also helped our health. But most importantly, we've remained happy together," he said.

Horace grew up in Brierley Hill, attending Birds Meadow Infant School and Bent Street Secondary School before leaving aged 14 to work as an errand boy at metal firm Hill & Smith. He later worked for Gibbons Brothers and Beans Foundry in Tipton and in council maintenance, from making fire grates to shaping spectacles,

He met Nancy, now 91, while out walking in Wordsley before being called up to the Royal Marines in 1942.

Following his return Horace was awarded the Burma Star.

Nancy was raised in Lawnswood Road in Wordsley, where she attended the village school before working at Stuart Crystal. During the war she made metal casts for guns in Wolverhampton. As well as son Michael, the couple have three grandchildren, Darren, Rebecca,and Leanne and three great-grandchildren, Olive, five, Noah, three, and one-year-old Beatrice.

Mr Sahadew said: "It is a pleasure to have the couple here, you can see in the silent support they offer each other how they have lasted together for so long. I have been involved in this business for 17 years and I don't think I ever have met a couple who have been together more than 70 years."