AUBREY and Judith Shepherd went everywhere holding hands. Even death failed to separate them for long.

And next week they will make their final journey together when a joint funeral service is held at Kingsdown Crematorium.

Mr Shepherd, 79, who held the rank of major in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, suffered from bone and prostate cancer and died on February 2 in Prospect Hospice from an embolism.

Mrs Shepherd succumbed to pneumonia and obstructive pulmonary disease just two weeks later, aged 77.

They had celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in November.

Their son, Peter, told the Advertiser: “She said she didn’t think that she was going to be able to live without him.”

The couple met at a dance in the Locarno.

“He was there with a couple of friends and she went with hers. They wanted to dance with his friends so she asked him,” he said.

In the early days of their marriage they lived in one of the Nissan huts at the former Polish camp in Lydiard Park, but eventually they settled in Covingham, where they lived for more than half a century.

Mr Shepherd was a communications specialist. He had started on the railway as an apprentice turner and fitter, but gradually worked his way up into management and became responsible for railway communications.

But his great passion was for the military life. He spent six decades as a member of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, taking part in exercises and events as far away as Gibraltar.

He was also part of the unit that ran the communications for Badminton Horse Trials for years.

Starting off in the ranks, he won a commission and went to Sandhurst Military Academy for officer training. He was also one of the trustees of the Yeomanry’s benevolent fund.

Almost every weekend he would head off for military training with his unit, leaving his wife at home. She then collected him to bring him home for Sunday tea.

Mrs Shepherd worked for many years at pharmaceutical manufacturer Patheon UK. “But she was always the housewife and mother,” said Peter.

Her husband, who was given the MBE for his service to the reserve and a Pride Of Swindon Award in 2010, was military to the end.

“He had already done his own order of service. He was a very organised person,” said Peter.

At the funeral on Wednesday, March 8, at 12.45pm the couple’s coffins will be separated by their favourite portrait showing them dressed to go to a military dance.

Peter said: “Because I’ve lost them so quickly I thought it was best they were together.”

A wake follows at the White Hart, Stratton.