“The room was filled with GIs – some playing pool, some jostling for control of the jukebox, and others taking doughnuts from a silver machine in the corner – while half a dozen young women rushed around serving them. ‘So, what can I do?’ Sylvia asked, keen to get stuck in.”

Sylvia was volunteering at a Red Cross Club in the West End when she met a charismatic Irish-American called Bob. He swept her off her feet and convinced her to fly to America to marry him after the war. But living with Bob’s gambling relatives proved a nightmare, and in desperation Sylvia ran away to England, giving Bob an ultimatum…

Listen to Sylvia remembering her wedding day in Baltimore

Listen to Sylvia’s appearance on BBC London’s Robert Elms Show, 27 August 2013 (in two parts)