Couple parted by wartime celebrate 70 happy years

They fell in love through letters written to and from the Second World War frontline. And now, Ruth and Jack Kirkham have toasted seven decades of marriage.

When 19-year-old Ruth got a knock on her door from a young lad asking if she wanted an RAF soldier as a pen pal she had no idea what lay before her. She had never noticed RAF recruit Jack on the bus between Tipton and Dudley in a morning, but he had noticed her.

While he served on the frontline in Egypt during the war, they exchanged a series of letters as they got to know each other.

The couple, who celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary yesterday, did not actually meet until nine months after she sent her first letter. "He knew where I lived so he had asked a friend to call and see if I would write to him while he was away," said Mrs Kirkham, now aged 90, of Codsall, South Staffordshire.

"We were pen friends for nine months, and that's all I thought we were until he came on leave. That was when we fell in love."

Courtship

After a short courtship, Jack popped the question and a "besotted" young Ruth agreed to marry him.

They were married at Dudley Register Office on March 7, 1942, after Mr Kirkham took special leave from his posting as a physical trainer for the big day.

Two days later, however, he was called back and it was three-and-a-half years before they met again. "It wasn't easy, I did miss her, but you just had to get on with it. It was a war," said Mr Kirkham, now 89, who went on to work as an area manager for Banks's Brewery in Wolverhampton for 35 years before retiring in 1985.

"We continued to write to one another but it was hard. We had a day-and-a-half of married life before he left," Mrs Kirkham added.

Now, 70 years down the line, the couple are celebrating a lifetime of happy marriage with their two daughters Karolyn, 65, and Margaret, 62, as well as their four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

"We have a lot of memories. We didn't get to see each other at the start, but we have had a wonderful life," said Mrs Kirkham.

"We are happy and we have been happy for 70 years."