In some heartwarming news, a World War II veteran will travel to Australia to reunite with his wartime girlfriend after more than 70 years.
Norwood Thomas and Joyce Morris first met in 1945, on the banks of the River Thames. Joyce lived in Richmond and Norwood – an American soldier – only months before had parachuted into Normandy as part of the D-Day landings.
At the end of the war Norwood left to go back to the U.S, while Joyce stayed in the UK. After an emotional farewell at the train station they never saw each other again.
But now, 71 years on, Norwood, 93, and 88-year-old Joyce are on the verge of being reunited on Valentine’s Day- thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.
Barbara McDonald started a GoFundMe campaign to get them back together after reading Norwood’s story about his lost first love.
Norwood now resides in Virginia Beach, U.S and Joyce lives with her son Rob in Adelaide, Australia.
In November last year, she asked Rob if he could help her track someone down on the internet. They found an old story about a D-Day paratrooper called Norwood, who’d gone skydiving on his 88th birthday.
It turned out to be her Norwood and the two set up a Skype call. It’s fair to say they had a few technical difficulties, but they had a lot to talk about, with seven decades to catch up on.
The pair were keen to meet up again and their wish has now been granted thanks Barbara’s appeal. The generous public donated $7,000 to get the couple back together, but Air New Zealand have now offered to fly Norwood and his son to Australia for free. What a lovely gesture.
I’m sure it’ll be a Valentine’s Day to remember for these two…
