Thatcham couple celebrate 70 years of marriage

When John and Joyce Smith tied the knot on December 9, 1944, Allied forces had landed in Normandy, Britian’s Home Guard had been stood down and Laurence Olivier’s film production of Henry V had opened in London.
The couple were introduced during the height of the Second World War when Mr Smith, who had joined the Territorial Army before the outbreak of war, was billeted at Mrs Smith’s aunt’s house in Swindon in 1942.
He had been serving as an anti-aircraft gunner in the Royal Artillery; but having an apprenticeship in aircraft engineering Mr Smith was sent to be an instructor.
Mrs Smith said that it taken her some time to go on a date with her future husband but after a first date at the pictures, their relationship had “snowballed” from there.
The couple were married on a lovely sunny day, with Mrs Smith’s cousin serving as best man while home on leave.
Despite being married half-an-hour later than planned owing to an over-running wedding, Mrs Smith said: “My father gave me a lovely wedding considering it was wartime and everything was on ration.”
However, the newlyweds’ time together was short-lived as Mr Smith was sent to the Western Desert six weeks later, to recover and repair tanks.
He finished the war five miles south of the Austrian frontier, but his duty wasn’t over as he was tasked with collecting and repairing tanks from former battlefields to help Britain pay back war loans from the Americans, with each tank knocking $22,000 off the debt.
It was only when a letter arrived saying that his wife had appendicitis that his superiors decided he had done his time, returning to Joyce two years after their wedding, on Good Friday, 1946.
The couple welcomed sons Peter, named after Mrs Smith’s brother who had died in the war, in 1947 and Colin in 1952.
They said that they had a lovely family, comprised of four grandchildren and one great grandchild, who joined the celebrations.
After the war Mr Smith worked as a motor fitter for Esso Petroleum and ended his working life as a supervisor for Reading Industrial Engines.
The couple moved to Thatcham when Mr Smith retired in 1986, only for him to end up working for his son’s removal company for another four years.
Mrs Smith said that she didn’t think there was any secret to their 70 years of marriage but Mr Smith said that he had been well looked after over the years.
He joked that his platinum wedding was the equivalent of three life sentences but added: “They could have millionaires lined up and I would still pick her. I wouldn’t miss her for the world."