WHEN Steve and Elsie Callow got married in the darkest days of the Second World War, everyone said it wouldn’t last.

But they have had the last laugh, because today they celebrate their 72nd wedding anniversary.

Now, with their two sons themselves old-age pensioners, they can look back over a very long and very happy marriage.

The couple, who are both from Worcester and both aged 92, met in 1939 as the clouds of war gathered.

Mr Callow had joined the Territorial Army the previous year.

He said: “I was sure there was going to be a war, so I joined up rather than be conscripted.

"At least I’d be able to choose, instead of being told where to go.

"I joined the local artillery regiment because that was where my father had served in the last war.”

In January 1940 he was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, and he had arranged leave for June.

But Hitler intervened by invading France and when June came he was one of the thousands of troops evacuated to safety from the beaches of Dunkirk.

He was evacuated on June 6, was back in Worcester on June 11, got married on June 12, and returned to duty the next day.

Mr Callow said: “After we got married, I didn’t see her again for six months.”

He was subsequently posted to the Middle East, and the separation was such that he did not see the couple’s first son until he was three years old.

Mrs Callow said: “Everyone said that we were just kids, that we didn’t know our own minds and that it wouldn’t last.

"But I think we’ve proved them wrong.”

After the war, Mr Callow worked first at the old Dents glove factory in Worcester, and later went into retail, running the Empire shoe shop.

He retired when he was 60, on doctors’ advice. “He said if I didn’t take it easy I’d be pushing up the daisies. Now we’ve had 32 years of a wonderful retirement.”

And until they reached 85, the couple enjoyed active lives, going out dancing several days a week and walking on the Malvern Hills.

As well as their two sons, the couple have three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. They celebrated at a party with family and friends at Claines Royal British Legion Club.

“Elsie has been the most wonderful wife in the world,” said Mr Callow.