Spotting Shirley on their friend’s verandah in Sydney, Bathurst born Jim Laws, then aged 17, knew immediately that she would be the girl for him. Four years of courtship, and seventy years of marriage later, it turns out he was right.

“I wasn’t allowed out at night, when we first met,” said Shirley. 

“I was too young. When I was 16, my mother finally allowed me to go to the pictures one evening with Jim. Dad said ‘I reckon this one is fair dinkum’.”

Friends from the start, Jim and Shirley stepped out together, going to the movies, catching the Manly ferry dressed in their Sunday best, going on walks, and rollerskating. This last activity led to Jim breaking his arm, thus missing his first conscription date into the army in 1941, and the subsequent horrors of the Kokoda Trail for Australia’s ‘Lost Legion’. 

In 1942, Shirley waved her beau off for the first time of many, unsure of when and if she would ever see him again.  Twelve months later the anti-aircraft gunner was back, and Shirley’s father agreed they could be married on Jim’s next leave.

“There was no proposal as such. We had always talked about getting married. The war just sped things up a little,” said Jim. 

With a vague idea that Jim’s next leave would not be for another 12 months or so, Shirley lined up with the other women joining the workforce in the wake of the men’s departure, working in an office then in retail. 

“In the end, I only had a week’s notice to get ready. Jim arrived in Sydney after a seven-day train trip from Townsville where his ship had docked, and we had to meet the minister, who luckily had had a cancellation in his diary for a wedding later in the week. When the troops were in, he had a wedding on every hour.  The ceremony itself took 45minutes – you couldn’t be late,” said Shirley.

The couple tied the knot on August 19, 1944 at Woollahra All Saints Church in Sydney. Adapting a dress a friend had used to get married in a few weeks before, Shirley’s mother then made the two bridesmaid dresses from silk out of an eiderdown. A veil was hired, the guests invited, and the reception booked.  Jim’s uncle managed to get hold of six bottles of beer, the venue provided the sherry, and finger food was served using the war food coupons available. 

Jim and Shirley then received special permission for Jim to breach the 50 mile radius allowed to servicemen on home leave, and spent two weeks on honeymoon in Katoomba, 68 miles from Sydney. 

Jim’s leave then ended for what was supposed to be another year. On shore up north with his regiment however, missing his new wife and wanting to spend their first Christmas together, Jim took advantage of some downtime and hitched a ride on the officers’ train to have two weeks with his new wife. Nine months later their daughter was born, and the war ended.

“I was in the hospital with the new baby, when I heard everyone cheering”, recalled Shirley. 

Jim remained with the army until 1950, when he returned to civilian life to take up his work as a carpenter. 

“We might not have had the money, but it was an easier, happier life, than life is for people now,” said Shirley. 

“We never wanted…want, want, want. We never thought about buying a big house, having a flashy car. Life was a struggle, but we never thought it.”

Jim agreed: “If we had four shillings left at the end of the week, we would think we were rich.”

The couple are celebrating the milestone with their family and friends on August 16 in Tuncurry. The gathering is being organised by their granddaughter Bernadette Williamson.  Amongst friends and family will be their two children Janice and Russell, four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. 

As for their relationship, they both agree that it is important to talk to each other. They have always done things together, never apart. 

“I’ll think something, and she’ll come out and say the same thing. We know what the other is thinking,” said Jim, now 91. 

Adds Shirley, 88: “we’re soulmates”.