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A night of dancing led to 60 years of happy marriage
An evacuee couple who believe fate brought them together have celebrated 60 years of marriage after falling in love during a night of dancing.
Ed and Maureen Batts, 85 and 81, of The Greenway, in Epsom, marked the milestone, on Thursday, September 26, with a party at their home, at which they received a card from the Queen.
The couple have two daughters, Maureen O’Reilly, 56, and Julie Webbe, 53, and three grandchildren, and think they first caught each other’s eye while evacuees - although they never met once.
Mr Batts was evacuated to North Devon during World War Two in 1939 while she was placed in a village 12 miles away from her future husband a year later.
She said: "Ed was in a well-established family and learnt how to ride a horse and cart. He used to horseride out into the villages and I always said he spotted me then."
After the war ended they returned home to London, in her case Raynes Park, and Mr Batts to Bethnal Green.
They first met at a London dance hall and "danced all night" together. But Mr Batts, who was doing national service and was smartly dressed in the uniform of a Lifeguard, told her he could not see her again because he was being posted to Palestine.
A year later, both were at the same dance again - and have been together ever since.
Mrs Batts said: "He was very handsome. The first time we met he asked if he could walk me home. In those days it meant dropping you at your door and giving you a kiss goodnight.
"I came through the front door saying ‘I’ve just been kissed by a Lifeguard'.
"Destiny guided us together."
After living in Tooting Bec, while Mr Batts worked as a milkman, the couple moved to Earlsfield and Worcester Park, before moving to Epsom 20 years ago.
Mrs Batts, who worked as a secretary, said the couple are longstanding members of the Evacuees Reunion Association and that the pair’s "happy time" as evacuees created a bond between them.
She added: "He’s lovely and a thinker and I’m a talker. "You fall in love and there’s all the romance but you’ve got to be friends."
Mr Batts said that his wife is a "wonderful person and there’s not enough words I can say".
