A husband has spoken of how he dug his pregnant wife from the rubble of their home during the war, as more than 70 years later they celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary.

Elizabeth-May Norton, aged 87, was seven months’ pregnant with their first child John, when the bomb hit in 1941 and husband John  carried her to an Anderson shelter in their garden in Lowe Avenue, Darlaston.

The couple, who now live in Willenhall, went on to have three more children.

They now have six grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren to boot.

John, aged 89, a retired factory worker, said: “There were 11 houses destroyed that night, and seven people killed.

“I had to dig her out and take her to the Anderson shelter. When we finally managed to get out of the house, the roof caved in. There were lots of ambulances there.”

He added: “That was in June, and John was born on August 23.”

During the course of their 70-year marriage, the couple saw the end of the Second World War, two monarchs on the throne and 13 prime ministers come and go.

They met at a nuts and bolts factory in Darlaston, where Elizabeth-May — known simply as May — was taking her father’s breakfast in to him.

John invited her to see a film, and they went to see Gone With The Wind, although Elizabeth-May had to pay for the date because John was skint.

John said: “She had to pay because I had no money — it’s still the same now! She still loves me. It was love at first sight.”

The couple were together for three years before they were married at St Lawrence’s Church in Darlaston on February 22, 1941.

John joined the Home Guard and was called up to the Royal Air Force in 1945.

Children John, 69, Gillian Moore, 67, Margaret Champion, 64 and Annis Spinks, 55, could not be more proud.