A JAPANESE prisoner of war has celebrated 70 years of marriage.

Sid Petto, 91, almost did not survive his three-and-a-half years in captivity.

But he and wife Anne, 90, celebrated their platinum anniversary on Tuesday.

The couple, of Robin Way, Chelmsford, were married in 1940, after Sid got a day’s leave to tie the knot at Arbour Register Office, in London.

They had met at an engineering factory in 1938 and become engaged a year later.

Then, in October 1941, he left on an American troop ship and went to Bombay. He then left to go to Singapore, but it was when the boat was 14-miles off the coast it was bombed by the Japanese.

“I lost everything, including my pictures of Ann. I managed to jump on to an Australian ship and we landed at Singapore, but I knew we were in trouble.”

Sid was taken prisoner and spent the next three-and-a-half years in a prison camp, building a railway. It was two-and-a-half years before Ann knew whether her husband was dead or alive.

Sid lost several colleagues who died at the hands of the Japanese.

Memories for him are still vivid. He remembered: “The guards were cruel and vicious and even now I would not buy anything from Japan.

“I was lucky. Although I got lots of terrible illnesses, I managed to keep going.

“The rations were terrible – just rice. I think maybe because I was a small, thin man, I survived whereas the bigger men died.”

Sid was in a coma at one stage and not expected to live and his weight went down to under six stone.

He said: “A grave was dug for me, but I didn’t need it. Someone was looking down on me.”

Sid said when they finished the railway line, they started building an airstrip, but were told by the Japanese to “criss cross” it so it could not be used. He added: “We knew then something was up and the war could be coming to an end.”

It was in August, 1945, he was liberated and taken to Bangkok and then Rangoon.

He arrived back in England in November. Ann said: “I didn’t recognise him. He was in a terrible state and we had to get to know each other again. I had not seen him for all that time.”

The couple, who have three children, five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, moved to Chelmsford about 30 years ago.

They belong to many clubs and enjoy life to the full.

They got their first computer when Sid was 85.

They are having a celebration party on Saturday.

Sid says the secret to such a long and happy marriage is “never let the sun go down on an argument”.