Remarkable story of Harrogate couple who met in Second World War and are celebrating 75th anniversary

Bernhard Perschke will celebrate his and wife Nora's 75th wedding anniversary on March 10.

Now in their in their mid to late nineties, Nora and Bernhard have lived in Harrogate all their married life and have three children, three grandchildren and seven great grand children.

The couple first met while walking in the Valley Gardens in Harrogate during the Second World War.

At the time, Bernhard was a German prisoner of war and Nora worked for the Home Office.

When they started ‘courting’, Nora had to resign from her job for security reasons.

Bernhard had been captured by Allied troops at Arnhem.

At first he was shipped to Harwich ,then to Kempton Park Racecourse and, finally, to Scotton Bank near Harrogate.

He worked for a time as a gardener for the Mayor of Harrogate, Mr Wood, before becoming a waiter at the Granby Hotel.

Bernhard always felt welcome as a POW in Harrogate, some locals even leaving cake in his work book.

After the war, Bernard and Nora married at Knaresborough Registry Office on March 10, 1948.

A popular man and natural hard worker, Bernard's career prospered and he rose rapidly in Harrogate's hotel trade.

He eventually becoming the Restaurant Services Manager at the Cairn Hotel during the 1970’s and 80’s it was one of the top hotels in Harrogate.

Bernhard was responsible for recruiting travel companies to bring their customers to the Cairn Hotel and Harrogate from all over Europe, firmly placing Harrogate as a tourist destination on the map

He was also a very popular figure with the visiting parents of girls who were boarding at Harrogate Ladies College, which was situated behind the Cairn Hotel.

Bernhard was originally from Berlin.

Although he stayed in Britain after the Second World War ended, his family back in Germany were trapped in East Berlin until 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell with the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

During the 1960s and 1970s he and Nora made regular trips through Check Point Charlie with their children to see Bernhard’s parents.

A keen footballer, Bernhard coached the junior football team at St Peters C of E Primary School in Harrogate to victory.

All three of Bernhard and Nora’s children when to St Peter’s.

Nora now lives at Granby Care Home, which was formerly the hotel where Bernhard had worked as a waiter all those years ago.