At 81 Mair Leake was finally able to pay a poignant tribute to her first boyfriend, who died in World War Two.

It happened thanks to the befriending service at Age Concern Wiltshire.

Mrs Leake, from Corsham, had always wanted to put a red rose on the grave of Sergeant Miles Cottingham in Redcar, near Middlesbrough.

She met the 21-year-old RAF gunner when he was training in Wales and she was a 16-year-old on a family day out in Porthcawl in the summer of 1944. They visited a fun fair and later on the beach young Mair had her first kiss.

When Sgt Cottingham was posted to Scotland, they kept in touch, sending long letters and photographs to each other.

Then on November 16 1944 he was killed when his plane was shot down on a reconnaissance mission.

Mrs Leake, a retired teacher, was happily married to Alan Leake for 56 years. He died almost two years ago.

She told Carol McDermott, who had just started a trial telephone befriending service for Age Concern Wiltshire, about her first sweetheart.

Middlesbrough-born Ms McDermott, who lives in Lacock and is on secondment from her job as a project manager at Waitrose, contacted the Friends of Redcar Cemetery, whose secretary, Dorothy Ahmed, located Sgt Cottingham’s grave.

When Ms McDermott went to see her parents in Middlesbrough recently, she visited the grave and placed a red rose on it and phoned Mrs Leake so she could feel part of the tribute.

Ms McDermott said: “It was the first day at Age Concern that I spoke to Mair.

“She picked up on my accent and mentioned Miles and that her wish had been one day to place a red rose on his grave. I didn’t say anything but decided to see if I could locate the grave through the internet.”

Mrs Leake, who has two children and two grandchildren, said: “It was a lovely gesture by Carol. Miles was my first boyfriend and I had my first kiss from him. My husband was my true love but it was always in my mind that it would be nice to say goodbye to Miles.”

Mrs Leake is visited once a week by a befriender from Age Concern Wiltshire, which aims to raise £60,000 in its 60th anniversary.