War pen pals stay friends for 74 years

FRIEND Margaret Jackson A PAIR of wartime pen pals are still sending each other letters across the Atlantic after 74 years.

Margaret Gordon was 11 in 1944 when she asked a US airman staying with her family to find her an American girl to write to.

Soon a letter came from Alice Jacobs of Minneapolis and they hit it off, discussing boys and films.

It took 36 years for them to meet, when Margaret and husband Charlie Jackson visited Alice and husband Jerry Brandon at their Florida home.

Gran Margaret, 86, of Edinburgh, said: “We get on better than with our own families.”

Skype calls with Alice, 90, are now more frequent than letters but Margaret added: “I’ve got a lifelong friend out of it all.”