SWEETHEARTS Morriss and Audrey Burrage toasted their 65th wedding anniversary yesterday, reminiscing about their time in the RAF.

The couple, originally from Essex, met in 1941 while doing their bit for the war.

Mrs Burrage worked as an active member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force while Mr Burrage was an officer at the West Prawle base in the South West of England.

The couple celebrated with friends and family at Heathfield Nursing Home in Bletchingdon, near Bicester, where they live.

Mr Burrage said “I met Audrey when I was an officer working in Devon, she was 18 and one of the WAAF’s. I was a bit older than her at 23.”

Mr and Mrs Burrage married in London three years after meeting.

Shortly afterwards, they moved to Essex where they lived and worked together for two years before Audrey had children: Jane, 63, is now retired and living in Freeland and Karen, 59, an IT officer for Buckingham County Council, who lives in Great Horwood, near Milton Keynes.

The couple are also proud grandparents to Ian Wilkinson, 32 , a physicist at Siemens Magnet Technology in Eynsham, and Diane, 30, an engineer working in Northampton.

They are also great-grandparents to-be, as grandson Ian and his partner are expecting their first child in late August. Mr Burrage said: “We are both very excited”

The couple moved to Coopers Green, Bicester, in 1995, as they wanted to be closer to their family.

Mr Burrage said “Oxfordshire is very nice, it’s very quiet. We have lived here for more than 10 years and enjoy being close to our family.”

Mr Burrage, 92, and Mrs Burrage, 86, claimed the secret of their long and happy marriage was living with each other from the start of the relationship.

He said “We got married in London and have been together ever since with no problems. We lived together and grew up together and are very happy. We don’t argue much.”