George and May found love in an air raid shelter...
.... AND NOW THEY’RE 75 YEARS MARRIED!
A COUPLE who found love in an air raid shelter during a night of German bombing have celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.
George and May Garner, 96 and 98, from Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, met in 1939, and after chatting all the way through the raid, he walked her home when the coast was clear.
Although George was serving in the RAF and had to leave the next day, the pair married in 1942 - and have been devoted to each other ever since.
They still live in their own home on Queens Road, where they enjoy a glass of sherry every day at 4pm.
Daughter Brenda, 68, said: “Mum’s shelter was full so she went to another one, where they met. You’d have thought they would have had other things on their mind but they were each other’s only true love, they just happened to meet in an air raid shelter. They are still very devoted to each other, dad has always looked after mum and on their anniversary she couldn’t stop looking at him all day.”
George and May married at All Hallows Church, in Hampstead, London, on October 25 and moved to Stockport in 1958.
They had two other daughters Patricia, 73, and Janice, 65 - as well as six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, with another two on the way before Christmas.
After leaving the RAF George worked for a printing company and May had various jobs including working in a gift shop.
Both have been keen golfers over the years, playing at Cheadle Golf Club into their 90s, where they are life members. Brenda added: “They are great role models and as a family we are very close. Cards for 75th anniversaries aren’t even printed.”
George said: “If we had met at a party maybe things would be different but the way we came together, it does make you feel differently. We spent a lot of time in that shelter and chatted for hours.”
May added: “We don’t agree all the time, but we never argue. We are still as happy now as we were back then.”