A couple have marked an extraordinary double milestone in the space of two days.

Navy veteran Stan Field turned 100 on Monday 17 August, and the following day he celebrated his 70^th wedding anniversary with wife Ivy.

The couple marked their milestones at Royal Star & Garter in Solihull, where they have lived together since March this year.

The charity provides loving, compassionate care and support to veterans and their families living with disability or dementia, from Homes in Solihull, Surbiton, High Wycombe and Worthing. It also runs services reaching out into the community including Day Care, Lunch Club and a national Telephone Friendship Service.

Stan was born in East London in 1926, and was called up to the Navy in 1944, during WWII. He trained as a radar mechanic and travelled the world before demobbing in 1948.

He then trained as a teacher and moved to Birmingham for work. It was there that he met Ivy at a church in Yardley in 1950. Stan said: “As soon as I saw her, I thought ‘that’s the one for me’. It was love at first sight – and I’m sure it was God-guided.”

The couple didn’t marry until 1956, as they wanted to save up money before they wed.

Stan went on to teach for over 30 years, becoming head teacher at Hawbush Middle School (now Hawbush Primary School). After raising their two daughters, Ivy, 97, taught shorthand and typing.

The couple enjoyed a family party at Royal Star & Garter on Saturday 15 August, with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren present.

Friends then gathered at the Home on Stan’s birthday, before staff put on a special meal for the couple on their anniversary.

“I wouldn’t change a thing”

Looking back on the life they built, Stan said: “If I had my time over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The couple live just a few rooms apart at Royal Star & Garter, and Stan added: “It means a lot that we’re both here at this Home. We’ve had a very happy life together, and I’m dearly grateful that we’re still together at Royal Star & Garter.”

“Hugely important to keep couples together when they need our care”

Katie McCauley, Home Manager at Royal Star & Garter in Solihull, said: “We do our upmost to support our residents in every way. We recognise that it is hugely important to keep couples together when they need our care and I’m proud that we can go the extra mile to support Stan and Ivy for their double celebration. Congratulations to them both.”

Royal Star & Garter in Solihull is welcoming new residents. For more information on this, the other services it offers to the veterans’ community or to work at the Home, go to www.starandgarter.org/solihull