大象传媒

I met my husband Teddy on 29 October 1941. I don't remember the date he proposed to me, but it was in the woods outside Ruislip Lido. He went down on one knee, and then carved our initials into a tree. They may still be there! I haven't been back to look, though.

I had all my life longed to be a June bride, with fresh flowers on my wedding day. But Teddy wasn't a man for waiting around. He obtained a license for us to be married on 23 December 1942. I could have waited, but he wouldn't -- we were all virgins, then, after all! He said, though, that he wouldn't see his bride married with artificial flowers. His father was a horticulturalist, and he managed to find several orchids for my wedding day in Derby. They were lilac and yellow. I have them pressed to this day, in a trunk at home.

I wore a grey suit for my wedding -- it cost about 拢15 to 拢20. No white dress for me after all! He walked to the registry office, I took a taxi. He told me afterwards "we may have to spend the night in an air raid shelter" -- but he was joking. We boarded a train to London, where he'd booked a suite at the Charing Cross Hotel. I think it was Room 11. You can see it from the road, above the clock. When I was there, I signed the register in my maiden name by mistake!

We had to seize the moment in those days. You didn't know if you'd be alive the next day. But I knew I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. I forgive him, though, for depriving me of being a June bride!

THIS STORY HAS BEEN ADDED BY JOHN YOUNG OF 大象传媒 SOUTH EAST TODAY, ON BEHALF OF BABS MANNING. SHE FULLY UNDERSTANDS THE SITE'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.