A WARTIME romance that stood the test of time has seen a husband and wife celebrate 60 years of wedded bliss.
German Erika Seetzen met her English soldier Jim Woods at age 19, and after just a week of daily meetings the pair fell in love.
But fate nearly tore them apart when Jim was demobbed and sent back to England despite his protestations and efforts to stay.
A series of international love letters strengthened their relationship and on February 12, 1949, Erika bade farewell to her family and made the arduous trip to London, catching trains to Holland and then boarding the Princess Beatrix of New Zealand steamship.
“The weather was terrible, the sea was wild, the soup on the table spilled over the rim and everybody on board was feeling ill,” said Erika.
But when she finally reached London and saw her Jimmy waiting with his parents and sister she knew the journey had been worth it.
However, as a foreigner, Erika could only stay in the UK for two months and was due to leave on April 17, 1949.
The day before she and Jim married, though not without drama, as Jim and his best man could not get to the registry office as the buses were all full.
“It was a legging job as we ran from Latchford to Central Station, where we managed to get a taxi, bribe the driver, who got us to our destination with minutes to spare,” said Jim.
Sixty years and two children later, the couple, of Egerton Avenue in Bruche, are still as enamoured as they were in Germany all those years ago.
They have lived in Shrewsbury and Clevedon as well as Warrington. Jim was the youngest bus driver in Warrington in the 1950s and then ran a bargain centre agency.
Erika ran Tiffany fashion agency and Tiffany hairstyles.
“The success of our long marriage would be our mutual respect for each other, working together, going through thick and thing, pulling on the same road and laughing and having fun together,” said Erika.
The couple, who will both be 81 this month, celebrated with family at the Boysnope Golf Club in Manchester.
German Erika Seetzen met her English soldier Jim Woods at age 19, and after just a week of daily meetings the pair fell in love.
But fate nearly tore them apart when Jim was demobbed and sent back to England despite his protestations and efforts to stay.
A series of international love letters strengthened their relationship and on February 12, 1949, Erika bade farewell to her family and made the arduous trip to London, catching trains to Holland and then boarding the Princess Beatrix of New Zealand steamship.
“The weather was terrible, the sea was wild, the soup on the table spilled over the rim and everybody on board was feeling ill,” said Erika.
But when she finally reached London and saw her Jimmy waiting with his parents and sister she knew the journey had been worth it.
However, as a foreigner, Erika could only stay in the UK for two months and was due to leave on April 17, 1949.
The day before she and Jim married, though not without drama, as Jim and his best man could not get to the registry office as the buses were all full.
“It was a legging job as we ran from Latchford to Central Station, where we managed to get a taxi, bribe the driver, who got us to our destination with minutes to spare,” said Jim.
Sixty years and two children later, the couple, of Egerton Avenue in Bruche, are still as enamoured as they were in Germany all those years ago.
They have lived in Shrewsbury and Clevedon as well as Warrington. Jim was the youngest bus driver in Warrington in the 1950s and then ran a bargain centre agency.
Erika ran Tiffany fashion agency and Tiffany hairstyles.
“The success of our long marriage would be our mutual respect for each other, working together, going through thick and thing, pulling on the same road and laughing and having fun together,” said Erika.
The couple, who will both be 81 this month, celebrated with family at the Boysnope Golf Club in Manchester.
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