When I got wounded, I was more worried about losing Vera than losing my leg.

Kenneth Foster

Kenneth Foster, 97, from Sheffield, lost a leg when he was hit by an anti-tank gun near Bayeux as Allied forces pressed home the attack after the D-Day landings.

“It felt like I’d put my leg in a bucket of boiling water,” he says. “The first thing I got at the first aid station was a pot of sweet tea but they dressed it and then did an operation to amputate at the field hospital.

“The Padre asked if there was anyone he wanted me to write to and my girlfriend Vera was the only one I wanted,” he says. “I was more worried about losing her than losing my leg.”

Ken and Vera got married six months later in December 1944. He initially battled workplace prejudice against injured veterans, which was common after WW2, but worked as a telephone engineer for 30 years and the couple brought up three children.

“At hospital, I was given some crutches and told ‘Off you go’. You just got on with it in those days and I didn’t let it hold me back,” he adds. “But Blesma is always there and has helped a lot of people over the years.”

This December the couple will celebrate 78 years of marriage!