World War Two veteran celebrates 70th wedding anniversary with woman he saved from Nazi bomb
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A World War II veteran is celebrating his 70th wedding anniversary with the Belgian wife he saved from a German bomb blast on the front lines.
Percy Johnson, 93, met Eliane when his tank became stranded in the frozen village of Villers Aux Tours in Belgium in late 1944.
Desperate for a warm place to sleep to avoid freezing to death, Percy asked Eliane and her mother to ask if he could stay in their cottage.
They agreed and three days later the Royal Tank Regiment soldier saved Eliane’s life when a German bomb landed just feet from their home.
(Image: Caters News Agency)
Percy, from Leicester, dived on top of his future wife, who is now 91, to prevent glass and shrapnel falling on top of her.
Despite being engaged to a local farmer, Eliane fell instantly in love with her new British lodger thanks to his heroics.
Within weeks she agreed to call off her wedding and travel back to England with besotted Percy.
To move to England she had to get an invitation from his father and an approval letter from his commanding officer.
(Image: Caters News Agency)
The pair also had promise that they would marry within three years - which they did by tying the knot in October 1947.
Percy, who later worked for British Gas , said: “We have loved every single year together.”
Recalling their first meeting, he said: “She struck me immediately as being pretty. There was a mutual feeling of attraction from the start.
“Everywhere we went the civilians were grateful to see us, but when I saw her it was the other way around.
“I think we really fell for each other when we were bombed a couple of days later.
(Image: Caters News Agency)
“I grabbed her, pushed her to the floor and put myself over her. I was wearing thick battle dress so I stood less chance of getting injured.
“From that moment on I loved her but I could not do anything about it. I didn’t know whether I could survive the war.”
After three weeks in Villers aux Tours Percy had to say goodbye to Eliane and join his regiment’s march towards Germany.
It was only after he had successfully made the push across the border that he first wrote to her.
The pair agreed to meet in Liege while Percy was on leave and then decided to spend the rest of their lives together.
(Image: Caters News Agency)
They were eventually reunited in Folkestone and travelled to Leicester to meet Percy’s parents.
He said: “Our wedding was a lovely day. We knew we’d spent the rest of our lives together.”
Eliane was only at her mother’s house on that fateful day because her then-fiance had told her to go to escape the bombing.
She said: “When I told him I was going to marry someone else he said, ‘It’s the army man isn’t it?’
“He said if I changed my mind I could still go back to him, but I could never have been a farmer’s wife.”
Percy and Eliane have two daughters, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.