After D-Day horrors, my happy union of 70 years
WHEN Royal Engineer Len Davies walked into a Belgian cafe in 1945, he had no idea he was about to meet the girl who would be his wife for the next 70 years.
As the 22-year-old locked eyes with “beautiful” Louise, 16, he knew he had to take her on a date despite the fact he did not know any Flemish and she could not speak a word of English.
He had landed on Juno beach on D-Day just a year earlier and had witnessed the most unimaginable of horrors.
Now aged 91, with the anniversary of his and Louise’s first meeting approaching, Len has told how in just one year he saw the worst and best of humanity.
“I was lucky when I arrived in Normandy that I wasn’t one of the first ones on the beach because when we got there we were driving over dead bodies,” he said.
Just over a year later when the war was won Len walked into a Brussels cafe where he made friends with a couple.
How can you quarrel when you don’t speak the same language?
Len said: “One day they had a pretty girl with them.
"I asked them if I could take her on a date but they said no.
"I kept asking and they relented.”
Louise was working in Brussels during the week and returning to her parents’ home at the weekend.
Now 85, she said: “We didn’t speak the same language but it didn’t matter.
"There was an attraction.
"We have been together for nearly 70 years, so I didn’t make a mistake.”
When he was posted to Germany, Len travelled to Brussels as much as he could and after two years took her to Swansea, to see if she liked the UK and wanted to marry.
They wed in October 1947 in Belgium and Louise wore a grey suit with a white blouse made from a parachute as fabric was scarce.
The couple have two children and three grandchildren.
Len said: “What’s the secret to a long marriage?
"Well how can you quarrel when you don’t speak the same language?
"By the time we learned each other’s we couldn’t be bothered fighting.”
