A PAIR of London evacuees say their long marriage is something to thank Adolf Hitler for, after toasting 60 years together.

John and Ethel Simpson, of Lockheart Crescent, Cowley, celebrated the milestone with a card from The Queen.

Mr Simpson, 81, said: “We don’t know how they knew we were still living here, or were still together, but it was lovely to get it.”

Mr Simpson was evacuated to Oxford from Marylebone on the first day of the war — September 1, 1939 — and Mrs Simpson, now 89, came here in 1942 from the Isle of Dogs.

Mr Simpson said: “We were in the old ice rink in Botley Road to start, then eventually we got a house together — four girls and two boys.

“I was friendly with Ethel’s brother, George, and we stayed friends for life until he died a few years ago.

“I left to join the Army in 1945 and came back in 1948 and that’s when I got interested in Ethel. I suppose we did bond over both being from London, and it was the war that brought us together.

“It’s one thing we can thank Adolf Hitler for.”

The pair married in St Giles Register Office on September 24, 1949, and lived in a room in Marston before moving to Cowley 54 years ago.

They now have six children, 18 grandchildren and 15 greatgrandchildren.

Mr Simpson, who worked briefly at Pressed Steel before becoming a milkman and working the same round in Osney, Mill Street and the city centre for 42 years, added: “We have great times together as a family and we have been very happy.

“My wife says the secret is one word — tolerance.”