NTI_WARTIME_LOVERS_05

Roy Vickerman who is celebrating his 90th birthday by getting engaged to his fiancé, Nora Nicholls – who he was engaged to during the war years, but lost contact for over 70 years. See NTI story NTILOVE. Roy Vickerman told a taxi driver to wait while he called on his former fiancée whom he’d not seen for 70 years. The D-Day veteran had no wish to upset his ex-girlfriend – neither did he know if she was still married – so he simply planned to give her some flowers, apologise for the way their affair had ended, and then leave. Instead, Nora Jackson threw her arms around Roy as soon as she saw him. And now a year on, the couple have celebrated their engagement at Roy’s 90th birthday party. The couple first met at school in Stoke-on-Trent after Roy had been evacuated from London and they soon became engaged – but the war interrupted their plans. Roy was called up to serve with Black Watch, then joined the army intelligence corps. He took part in the Battle of the Bulge and was wounded by a sniper during the invasion of Germany. The affair ended when he returned home, suffering what today would be diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder. Roy and Nora both moved on with their lives. They both married and had children.