William and Louise's Wedding in 1940

The contributor has brought several photographs of her parents' wedding. Her parents met before the War, about 1938, and got married in 1940. Before the War, the contributor's mother, Louise (aka Pat) Henson Corke, nee Eldrige, was a nurse. The contributor's father, Willliam John Corke, was undertaking a degree at the Royal College of Art. Once her father finished his degree, he wanted to do a teaching diploma, so he enrolled at Goldsmith's. William qualified and was a teacher by the time the war started.

The contributor's parents got married on September 14th, 1940, the day before Battle of Britain, in Maidstone, right where Battle was occurring. There were spitfires and hurricanes fighting over Maidstone while they got married (they had a tea party) - yet the photos look so peaceful! They got married at an old hunting lodge (that had been in the family for years) in Maidstone, where they lived for about 6 months. They spent their wedding night in an air raid shelter

The contributor's mother stopped nursing once they married, and her father was called up and put in an aircraft factory due to his art background. Her father cycled to work generally. One day, as he was cycling to work, he saw that the factory had been bombed, so he returned home. He worked in the factory in the day, and in the night was on duty in the Home Guard

The contributor's parents moved out to Bedfordshire after factory was bombed, and they were put into digs. After the War, William eventually got a job as head of an art department in Bradford. William promised Pat that they would return to Maidstone (the hunting lodge) one day - and they did (on their Diamond Wedding) in the year 2000.