A SECOND WORLD WAR hero and his wife weren’t be able to celebrate their 74th wedding anniversary together – they were separated by a hedge and lockdown restrictions.

Colonel Alan Jukes OBE of Downside House in Reservoir Lane, Petersfield, was only able to glimpse his wife Caroline in the garden of neighbouring Down House Care Home on their anniversary on Thursday, May 14, and speak to her on the phone.

The couple – he is 96 and Caroline is 95 – are both well, apart from age-related ailments like partial deafness.

But because of their age they decided about three years ago she should move into the care home next door, where they would be able to see each other as often as they liked.

Until lockdown, the couple saw each other most days when Colonel Jukes delivered a newspaper to his wife.

The fundraiser for the Canine Partners charity, formerly of Petersfield but now near Midhurst, said: “We can’t have much longer and I miss her, and especially on our anniversary, but I can see her over the hedge. We have been very lucky, and have had a very good 74 years together, although we have different interests.

“I enjoyed the outdoors, Caroline not so much, but we played bridge together, which was fun.”

The couple met at The Queens Hotel in Portsmouth when the colonel gained his sub-lieutenant’s commission in the Marines.

He joined them aged 17½ so he could fight – army recruits had to be over 18 to see action – and joined after his best friend was killed in Crete fighting the Germans.

He and other newly-commissioned subalterns were celebrating at the hotel, and one brought his then girlfriend, Caroline.

Colonel Jukes said: “She was a Royal Marine Wren. By the end of the evening I had nicked her, and we got married in Reigate at Church Field.”

After becoming an officer, and after his wedding, he went on to serve two RAF air marshals, “countless” generals, the British ambassador to Washington, as well as active service postings – he and Caroline moved 50 times before moving to Reservoir Lane in 1980.

As well as his wedding anniversary, the ferret-owning colonel – he got his first two, called Spitfire and Hurricane, early in the war – is celebrating the awarding of a medal from the Russian government.

One of his first postings was aboard navy warships escorting the Arctic Convoys that ran from April 1941 to May 1945, to Russian ports like Archangel in the Arctic Circle.

The medal commemorates 75 years since the war in Europe ended.

In a letter, the Russian ambassador to Britain Andrei Kelin said: “This special commemorative medal is awarded to members of the Allied forces previously decorated with Russian awards.

“I have the honour to present to you the commemorative medal and wish you and your family good health and all the best.”

The award follows the presenting to Colonel Jukes of the Ushakov Medal for bravery about three years ago.

It was given for courage and bravery displayed in defence of the Soviet Union.