It was 1941 when they met on an airfield in Cainbulg. Bessie was 17, a cook in the NAAFI and Ted was a 19 year old corporal in the Disciplinary Sergeants Office.

Bessie fell in love straight away. Ted was the most handsome man she'd ever seen. He's still the same, she says, minus half a leg!

They courted for two years, one of which Ted spent mulling over the possibility of their marrying. When he knew he was to be sent overseas, he proposed and they married. They had just one night together in Blackpool before Ted was sent away.

Ted was posted to Ceylon. He'd write twice a week, and she wrote to him daily. One night Bessie went out with her friends, got drunk and had a one night stand that ended in pregnancy. Bessie just couldn't bring herself to write to Ted, so her sister wrote on her behalf.

Ted and Bessie, reunited in 1997

Ted was shattered, he wouldn't write to her, and filed for divorce. His welfare officer suggested home leave for a reconciliation, but Ted wouldn't hear of it. He went on to marry twice, but says there was never a day that went by without him thinking about Bessie.

And Bessie never stopped thinking about Ted either. Some years after Alma was born, Bessie met another man who said he wanted to marry her. Bessie became pregnant but this ended in adoption when the man in question went off with someone else. (Bessie was thrilled when her 'birth daughter' contacted her some years on.)

And more than 50 years later, travelling through Walsall, Bessie thought she'd do some investigation. She posted a letter to Ted's former address asking if there was any connection to his family still. 'Kind sleuthing' on the part of the present occupants led to a phone call from Ted.

Bessie And Ted's marriage

They were on the phone for hours. Within months of meeting they had remarried. Ted and Bessie never had a chance to live together the first time round. They both regret the years apart, but look forward to their future together.