sweetheart

A 102-year-old woman who served as a land girl during World War Two has recalled the betrayal she felt when letters from her sweetheart were kept from her by a disapproving mother.

“Because, listen here, sweetheart: We’re not messing around this time, and we will put your fat a** in prison for conspiracy against rights, and I promise you that.”

At times it was bizarre - he admired my shorthand, commented on my British accent and seemed to patronise me - calling me “sweetheart”.

At the time of his death, his wife and childhood sweetheart, Samantha, was expecting their first child.

Born in Texas in 1938, Ely went on to marry his high school sweetheart in 1959, before divorcing two years later.