COUPLES who met at the conclusion of the Second World War relived their memories at a tea dance at the Wyvern Club in Devizes last week.

Sarsen Housing Association had organised the event as part of the celebrations surrounding the 60th anniversary of VE Day.

They had advertised in the Gazette for couples who had met during the Second World War and, as a result of the publicity, two local couples, Ron and Sylvia Jordan and Les and Annie Maslen, were their guests of honour at Thursday's tea dance.

Mr Jordan first set eyes on his future bride in 1942 during a blackout, when he stopped to ask her for a chip as she sat eating a takeaway supper with a friend in Devizes Market Place.

Mr Jordan joined the Army in 1943 and, with his unit, took part in the liberation of Norway on May 8 1945. The couple married in February 1946, on Mrs Jordan's 20th birthday.

Mrs Jordan said: "There was a wonderful feeling of community spirit during the war. Everyone looked out for one another. Sarsen's tea party has brought back some of our wartime memories, especially the dances we used to go to."

Sarsen staff got into the spirit of the 1940s revival and donned wartime outfits while the Bernard Wright Sextet from Somerset played wartime favourites.

Heather Benger, of Potterne, was just 18 when peace broke out on May 8 1945, but she will never forget the day as it meant a lot of work for her and her parents.

They ran a sweet shop opposite what is now Braeside educational centre in Bath Road and Mr and Mrs Benger decided to offer free ice creams to local children to celebrate the end of the war. Miss Benger said: "We had three ice cream makers and they were running red hot making enough ice cream to cater for the demand. We all had ice cream scoops and we just kept on scooping it into cones and handing it out."

But although it was the end of the war, it was not the end of rationing. That continued for another seven years and there were always queues of children wanting to trade in their coupons for any type of sweets they could get their hands on.