A FACTORY making Stirling bombers was the unlikely meeting place for Bernard and Eileen Arnold, who are celebrating their diamond wedding.

In late 1940, as the Blitz intensified over London the family of 18-year-old Eileen decided she should be evacuated to relatives in Kidderminster. She signed up for vital war work and was sent to an aircraft factory, Short Brothers. On her first visit she met Bernard and said that from their first meeting it was love at first sight. Eileen, 79, said: "When I went for the interview we first saw each other and it gradually built up."

The pair were married after an 18-month courtship. Eileen worked as a short-hand typist and Bernard was a designer. After the war, Bernard, 88, starting working for Plessey and was transferred by them to Swindon in 1947. They first lived in Croft Road then moved to Stratton St Margaret, where they still live.

The Arnolds have a son and a daughter, David, 55, and Shirley, 53. They also have four grand-children and three great grand-children.

When asked for the secret of a successful marriage, Eileen said: "It's been true love all the way through. ''

It's trust, give and take we take things as they come and work them out together."