A SECOND World War veteran is today celebrating 70 years of marriage to his beloved wife.

Jim and Joyce Robson met when they were teenagers at an accountancy firm in Bridlington and married in the midst of the war in Europe.

The 91-year-old was 18 when he first met his wife-to-be but they were forced apart when Britain declared war on Germany.

Great-grandfather Jim joined the Royal Navy as a Radar operator and Joyce, 92, signed up to serve in the Auxillary Territorial Service (ATS).

They married in 1944 in Bridlington and were together for 10 days on leave before the war effort parted them again for 18 months.

However, the couple were reunited in unfortunate circumstances when Jim's ship, HMS Voyage, was hit by a Japanese shell.

When he had recovered and was discharged, Jim spent the rest of his life in agriculture and took care of the University of Leeds' dairy heard in Tadcaster for 13 years before joining the Institute of Agricultural Botany, where he remained for two decades.

The couple, of Broom Road, Tadcaster, have two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Jim said: "We've been lucky to be married this long and it's been marvellous."