Ann Briars

I met Ann Briars at a night club in Luton. I was stationed in Plymouth while I dated her. Every weekend I could get leave I would travel to see her in Stevenage. She would always be there to pick me up when I arrived at the train station on Friday night. She would then take me back to the station Sunday evening to get the train back to camp. Ann was an amazing girl. Such a sweetheart and she had a great family who treated me very well.

While I was in the Falklands, Ann wrote to me every day. At mail call I always had lots of letters and goodies from Ann. After I left the Marines I attended carpentry college in Letchworth. I chose it because it was near Stevenage, so I would be close to her. After I became a carpenter I got a flat in Stevenage with her brother Stuart. We then got engaged and purchased a semi detached house in Biggleswade. Less than a year later we moved into a detached house in Ripon Court. I sold that before the housing slump happened and we moved into a crappy place that Ann just hated. But we made money on the two houses and we then purchased a plot of land in Everton, Bedfordshire. It was always my dream to build my own house. It was a very long and difficult process but we finally finished it before I was 30.

The problem was the mortgage was about 90 thousand pounds. We both worked so hard to keep our head above water. Eventually we both drowned. We sold the house and went our separate ways. I did take Ann to Disney World after we sold the house. She always wanted to go there. Ann bought a house and I remodeled it for her before she moved into it. After that I had no idea what I was going to do. It was Ann who suggested that I should go to the US. She said that’s all I talked about when I was with her. So, that’s what I decided to do.

There are not many photos of Ann and me. We just didn’t have cell phones and we didn’t use a camera much. There are pictures of us in Holland, visiting my sister and a picture of us outside our beautiful house. The other picture was taken very early in our relationship.

We kept in touch for a while but as time went on that fizzled out. I often wondered how she was doing in England and I have always wished her all the best in my thoughts.