The love that bound Clifford and Marjorie Hartland was invincible. It under-pinned the 76 years of their strong and stead fast marriage. It carried them through the dark days of World War II， and when Clifford， a prisoner of the Japanese， was listed as missing， presumed dead， his wifes faith that he was， in fact， still alive sustained her.

It succoured them in sickness;it buoyed them in heaIth. And when death threatened to part them last month， it was love that kept them together. Clifford died， aged 101， at the care home in Coventry. Then Marjorie， 97， slipped away just 14 hours later on their 76th wedding anniversary.

The Happy Couple

Theirs was a life of happy routine， of small， shared pleasures. Clifford had worked as a factory foreman at the Morris car plant in Coventry.

Marjorie was a home-maker， an accomplished cake-baker and talented seamstress. They both danced， and Clifford loved carpentry and would make furniture in his garden shed.

He and Marjorie had met in her native Cardiff in a shirt factory， where Clifford was a cutter and Marjorie a machinist. Theym arried in 1938， but their lives together were abruptly interrupted by the war.

The Precipitate War

Clifford joined the 7th Coast Regiment Royal Artillery and was sent to Singapore， where in 1942 he was one of thousands of British soldiers who surrendered to the Japanese.

The three years he endured as a POW were hellish. He was one of the 60，000 Allied prisoners forced to work on the infamous Burma-Thailand Railway， or Death Railway.

Almost 13， 000 Allied troops perished， labouring in the murderous heat of the swamps to build the railway. From Cliffords regiment， 700 men went out and only four came home.

“It was，”says Christine， their daughter， “down to luck， faith and l firmly believe his love of my mum， and his determination to get home to her， that Dad cheated death so many times.

He was in the last carriage of a train which was blown up crossing a bridge. The explosion killed everyone but the men in Dads carriage， and afterwards he remembered picking his way through dismembered bodies.

Then he was caught smoking banana leaves and a Japanese officer pushed a poisoned bamboo shoot right through his leg as a punishment. The leg seeped poison; the scar was visible all Dads life.”

Cholera swept through the camp in which Clifford was held. Many perished， but he escaped the deadly epidemic.

Tenacious Marjorie

Back in Cardiff， Marjorie sewed parachutes for the troops and waited for the only man shed ever loved. Her hope was tested but never extinguished.

“When Dad went to war， Mum was devastated，”says Christine.

Optimistic and Tough Clifford

Clifford barely spoke about his war. Its secrets the atrocities of forced labour：starvation， torture， disease remained locked in his mind. They emerged in snippets of information， and in the nightmares that plagued him.

“Dad said very little，”says Christine. “When my son， Barry， asked what he did in the war， he smiled and said：‘Me and another bloke built a bridge.”

It was a typically modest response：although Clifford remained， until his death， a stalwart of the Burma Star Association formed by veterans who served in the Far East-he never glorified his war. “She was desperate for him to come home. She wrote to him but they came back marked‘unread. Shed no idea where he was， but she kept writing. She always believed he was alive.”

Yet Marjorie had no reason to sustain hope. On March 4， 1942， the bleak missive had arrived from the Colonel-in-Chief of Cliffords regiment， informing Marjorie that her husband was presumed dead. Marjorie was urged to consider herself a war widow and claim the pension to which she was entitled.

But she did neither. Instead， each day on her way to work at the factory， she stopped at a church and prayed for her husbands safe return.

She continued to write to him， too. “Dearest Cliff， ”read one note dated October 3， 1944， “I am well. Hope you are. Am still working and keeping home going. All my love，? Marge.”Another， dated Christmas Day 1944， reads：“Am home with Mam. We all send our love. Hope you are home soon. God bless you. Love， Marge.”

Although the notes were returned， and Clifford never received them， Marjorie refused to capitulate to despair.

The Hero Came Back

Then， on September 2， 1945， Clifford had the luckiest escape of his life. In the sweltering heat， he had been ordered by his captors to dig his own grave. When he had finished， he stood on its brink， waiting for a firing squad to shoot him.

And then came the news that the Japanese had formally surrendered to the Allies;his life was spared.

Two months later， he retumed home to a heros welcome. His military conduct， reported his Army testimonial， had been“exemplary”. There was jubilation at the little home where Marjorie had waited. “Welcome Home Cliff”read a notice over the front door.

Cliffords ordeal had been merciless， but he neither complained nor boasted of his exploits. And his solid mind remained inviolable to psychological damage.

Spending Their Remaining Days Happily

Clifford and Marjorie lived in the same house in the Coventry suburb of Stoke Heath for 60 years. They loved each other to their last breaths.

At Christines home， when I visit， the bouquets in memory of her beloved parents are still fresh. The scent of lilies and roses hangs in the air. Christines floral tribute to her mum is a vast spray of pink and lilac blooms. Her dads is green and yellow the colours of the Burma Star Association.

And out in her garden， two clematis trees bloom side by side. Christine bought them after her parents died and has called them Clifford and Marjorie. And already the green tendrils of their leaves have begun to entwine.

克里福德·哈特蘭和瑪喬麗·哈特蘭之間的愛情堅不可摧。這份愛使他們持續(xù)了76年的婚姻愈加堅固，這份愛伴隨他們走過了二戰(zhàn)的黑暗歲月。當時，克里福德淪為日本的戰(zhàn)俘，被列為失蹤人員，并認定他已死亡，但他的妻子卻堅信他仍然活著，而正是這樣的信念支撐著她。

這份愛，在他們患病的時候給了他們慰藉;這份愛，在他們健康的時候給了他們支持。當死亡威脅著要把他們分開時，正是這份愛，讓他們永不分離。上個月，克里福德死于考文垂的老人護理中心，享年101歲。在他死后僅僅14小時，在他們76年結(jié)婚紀念日的那一天，他的妻子，97歲的瑪喬麗也悄然離世。

幸福的一對

他們生命里的每一天都是幸福的，充滿了小小的、共有的喜悅。克里福德曾是考文垂市莫里斯汽車制造廠的工頭。

瑪喬麗則是一個家務能手，一個技藝嫻熟的蛋糕師傅和能干的女裁縫。他們都跳舞，克里福德喜愛干木匠活，他會在自己花園的棚子里做家具。

他和瑪喬麗在瑪喬麗的家鄉(xiāng)卡迪夫的一家制衣廠相識，在那里，瑪喬麗是一名裁剪工，而克里福德則是一名機械師。他們于1938年結(jié)婚。但他們的婚姻生活很快被戰(zhàn)爭給粗暴地打斷了。

突如其來的戰(zhàn)爭

克里福德參加了皇家炮兵第七海岸團，并被送到新加坡參戰(zhàn)。1942年，他和成千上萬的英國士兵一起成了日本的俘虜。

在戰(zhàn)俘營的三年生活如地獄一般殘酷。他和6萬名盟軍戰(zhàn)俘一道被迫修建緬泰鐵路，或稱“死亡鐵路”。

有大約1.3萬名盟軍士兵在散發(fā)著致命熱氣的沼澤地里修建這條鐵路時死亡?？死锔５滤诘膱F一共有700人，然而只有4個人安全回家。

他們的女兒克里斯汀說：“是因為運氣、信念還有——我堅信——他對媽媽的愛，他要回到她身邊的堅定決心，才使得爸爸一次次地逃過死亡的魔掌。

爸爸曾經(jīng)乘坐的一列火車在過橋時遭到轟炸，幾乎所有人都在爆炸中死去，只是因為爸爸坐在這列火車的最后一節(jié)車箱，才幸免于難。此后，他記得他是從四分五裂的尸體堆中擇路爬了出去。

接著，他因為抽香蕉葉而被日軍看守抓住，一名日軍軍官用沾有毒素的竹尖扎入他的大腿以示懲戒。他的腿上滲入毒液，這個傷疤清晰可見，一直伴隨著父親的一生?！?/p>

一次，克里福德被拘押的那個營地霍亂肆虐。許多人死于疾病，但他卻逃過了一劫。

堅韌的瑪喬麗

而在卡迪夫，瑪喬麗則在為軍隊縫制降落傘，并日日夜夜等待著她唯一深愛的人歸來。她的希望受到考驗，但從未破滅。

“當爸爸去參戰(zhàn)的時候，媽媽傷心欲絕，”克里斯汀說，“她急切地盼望他回家。她給他寫信，但這些信都被退了回來，上面蓋著“未閱”的章。她不知道他在哪里，但她仍然堅持寫信。她一直相信他還活著?！?/p>

然而，瑪喬麗沒有任何理由繼續(xù)她的希望。1942年3月4日，克里福德所在部隊的上校給她帶來了壞消息，通知她說她的丈夫已被斷定死亡，并催促瑪喬麗承認自己是個戰(zhàn)爭寡婦及索取她應得的撫恤金。

但她什么都沒做。相反，她每天到工廠上班時，都要在途經(jīng)的一座教堂前停下來，在那里祈禱她的丈夫平安歸來。

她繼續(xù)寫信給他。在一封日期為1944年10月3日的信里寫著：“我最親愛的克里夫（克里福德的愛稱）：我很好，希望你也是。我仍然在上班和持家。全心愛你的瑪吉（瑪喬麗的愛稱）?！痹诹硪环馊掌跇嗣鳛槭フQ節(jié)的信里寫道：“我和媽媽在一起。我們互致愛意。希望你能很快回家。上帝保佑你。愛你的瑪吉。”

雖然這些信件都被退回，克里福德也從未收到它們，但瑪喬麗還是拒絕向絕望屈服。

英雄凱旋

然后，1945年的9月2日，克里福德時來運轉(zhuǎn)。那天，在夏日蒸騰的滾滾熱浪中，日軍軍官命令他去挖掘自己的墳墓。他挖完了之后，站在墳墓的旁邊，等著讓行刑人員向他射擊。

就在這時，傳來了日本向盟軍正式投降的消息，他的命保住了。

兩個月后，他回到了家鄉(xiāng)，受到了英雄般的歡迎。而在瑪喬麗等待他歸來的小屋里，也舉行了一場歡迎儀式。在門前掛著一個橫幅，上面寫著：“歡迎回家，克里夫?！?/p>

樂觀堅強的克里福德

克里福德幾乎從未談起他的戰(zhàn)爭經(jīng)歷。其中的秘密——被殘暴奴役的痛苦、饑餓、折磨、疾病——這一切都鎖在他的腦海里。這些秘密只出現(xiàn)在他的只言片語中，出現(xiàn)在夜夜折磨他的噩夢中。

“爸爸說得很少，”克里斯汀說，“我的兒子巴里問他在戰(zhàn)爭中做了些什么，他笑著說：‘我和其他家伙一起修了座橋?！?/p>

這真是一個非常謙遜的回答。雖然他至死都是由曾在遠東戰(zhàn)場服役的老兵組成的緬甸之星聯(lián)誼會的忠實會員，他卻從來沒有美化他的戰(zhàn)爭。

雖然克里福德遭受了殘酷無情的苦難，但是他既沒有抱怨也沒有夸耀他的經(jīng)歷。他以堅強的意志頑強地抵御著戰(zhàn)爭給人帶來的心理傷害。

安度晚年

克里福德和瑪喬麗在考文垂市的郊區(qū)斯托克·希思一起住了60多年。他們互相深愛著對方，直到生命的最后一刻。

在克里斯汀的家里，為紀念她摯愛的父母而放置的花束依然新鮮?？諝庵袕浡俸虾兔倒宓姆曳肌？死锼雇～I給母親的是一大簇粉紅的丁香花，而獻給父親的是則是綠色和黃色的花朵——這兩種顏色正是緬甸之星聯(lián)誼會會徽的顏色。

在屋外的花園里，兩棵鐵線蓮樹并排地開著花。這兩棵樹是克里斯汀在她父母死去之后買來栽下的，她管它們叫“克里福德”和“瑪喬麗”。如今，這兩棵樹的卷須已經(jīng)開始纏繞在一起了。