Teenage sweethearts separated during WW II to marry after 70 years
London: A British World War II hero who split up from his fiancee after suffering post-traumatic stress is finally getting married to her - more than 70 years later. Roy Vickerman has proposed to 89-year-old
London: A British World War II hero who split up from his fiancee after suffering post-traumatic stress is finally getting married to her - more than 70 years later.
Roy Vickerman has proposed to 89-year-old Nora Jackson on his 90th birthday.
The couple, from Stoke-on-Trent, met at school in 1940 and got engaged in 1946, but plans were halted when D-Day veteran Roy suffered post-traumatic stress from his wartime efforts. For 70 years, Vickerman bitterly regretted losing his wartime sweetheart so set about trying to track her down to apologise.
He sought help of his local radio station to trace Nora and found out that she lived just two miles apart. They also discovered their partners had since died and were now single so they picked up where they left off in the 1940s.
Romance blossomed again when Roy went to visit his former fiancee and hand her flowers, but as soon as Nora saw him on the door she threw her arms around him. He proposed with exactly the same ring from their original engagement and said he could not be happier.
"I always thought a lot about Nora," he said. "I still love her just the same as I did before," Roy was quoted as saying by the BBC. Nora, who has been widowed, said she never expected to see Roy again, and was looking forward to their wedding.
"It's so wonderful, because I've been on my own here [for] 14 years," she said.
"Everything has been so happy for me to see him and be with him."