John & Rachael marry
Having met through mutual friends in London, John plucked up the courage to ask Rachael to go out on a date. They arranged to meet in Birdcage Walk in London but Rachael got cold feet and stood him up.
But this was a marriage that was meant to be and fate would play its part. Each year John's regiment would walk their horses from London to summer camp in Windsor. By chance the family that Rach
.jpg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:100%25/rs=w:1209,cg:true)
The UK declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. As an enlisted soldier John would be one of the first to go to war. Perhaps it was this that gave him the courage to propose to Rachael and they married on 6 January 1940.
Their marriage was witnessed by John's brother, Andy, and Rachael's sister, Margaret.
John was on a 24 hour pass from his Regiment after which he returned to barracks for training and was sent off to war on 8 February. He and Rachael would not see each other again for four and a half years.
They were married in St Columba's Church of Scotland in Pont Street, Knightsbridge. The original church was destroyed in May 1941 during the Blitz. It was rebuilt in the 1950's.