Doreen Bolton met Ray Burwell in London at a Myra Hess concert. Her mother Ivy invited Ray to Saturday lunch and so he became a friend of the family. Doreen and Ray started to go to local dances together and they grew closer. When Ray did not break off his engagement with Doris, his American fiancé, Doreen gave him an ultimatum - he had to choose between the two of them. An unhappy month followed as Ray tried to work out his feelings for each woman.

He chose Doreen.



The pair were married on 16 June 1945 at Rushmere Saint Andrew Church, just outside of Ipswich. It had not been easy for Ray to get permission, in fact it had been denied by the 356th Fighter Group CO, Col. Tukey, but somehow Ray's request had reached Tukey's superior, Gen. Edward W Anderson, and he had approved it.



Doreen and Ray went to Torquay for a week on honeymoon and then found a place to live near Thetford. Doreen travelled to America on the SS Brazil in March 1946. She was pregnant with the first of their three children, Julie. They initially stayed with Ray's parents in Denair, CA, where Julie Doreen Burwell was born in April 1946. They later moved to Turlock, CA, where Sharon Suzanne Burwell was born in March 1949 and their son David Loray Burwell in 1951.



Ray died in 2001, but Doreen is still going strong aged 92, and keeps in touch with Ed Nebinger and his wife Marge.