One of the more unlikely romances, between the teenage daughter of an Army major and a German prisoner of war, is recounted in a heritage website.

Despite initial opposition Yvonne Trevorrow and former PoW Hans Bittner married in Devizes in 1950.

The couple, who eventually had five children, had a long and happy marriage until Mr Bittner’s death from cancer in 1977.

The couple overcame the problems of being a German/English family just after the war and became stalwarts of the town twinning movement, helping bring Europeans together in a spirit of reconciliation.

The story of the Trevorrows is told by Alan Carter in the Devizes herigate website www.devizesheritage.org.uk/ Yvonne, whose mother ran Hillier’s sweet shop on New Park Street, was only 16 when she met her husband to be.

Her father was a sergeant major in the Royal Artillery and did not see his daughter until she was aged five.

As a child, Yvonne remembers German PoWs tramping along New Park Street from the railway station to the PoW camp on London Road. They were badly dressed and many just had sacking rags on their feet. Once there was an altercation as German officers refused to get into jeeps as they wanted to walk with their men. Yvonne remembers seeing singers Gracie Fields and Bill Campbell at the Garrison Theatre opposite le Marchant Barracks on Friday nights.

She also used to go to the Donut Café, a US Nissan hut situated on the Green where, at a Christmas party, an American soldier gave her a scented bar of Lux toilet soap, which was a special treat in those days.

She met her husband-to-be, an interpreter at a small PoW camp in Patney, while swimming in Devizes pool. She later served coffee and apfel strudel to the POWs at Patney where Hans acted as an interpreter. In 1947/8 Hans, like all German POWs, was repatriated but the couple wrote to each other every week.

They faced mountains of paperwork to get permission for Hans to return to England to marry but, eventually the marriage took place at St Mary’s on New Park Street in February 1950.

Initially Hans had to report weekly to the police and found it difficult to get work.

But eventually he found a job in the kitchens of Roundway Hospital and later at Westinghouse, Chippenham. He also taught German at night school.

The couple were involved in the Devizes Waiblingen exchanges, which started in the 1960s and enjoyed happy times both in Germany and Devizes.

Hans Bittner died aged 52 after a four-year illness. His widow remarried and now, as Mrs Harvey, continues to live in Devizes. She has eight grandchildren. and five great grandchildren.

She often returns to Germany to see Hans’ nephews and their children where she feels very welcome.

n This article is based on information from Devizes Heritage website creator Alan Carter, ac1859@hotmail.com, (01380) 723519.