A WOMAN from Burtonwood made the bold decision to move to America after finding love during the Second World War.

In the past few weeks in Yester Years, we have been telling your stories of life in the base.

This week, we have been contacted by the family of May Bloom.

May caught the eye of American GI Ralph in the time that he spent stationed at the airbase in the village.

And when it was time for the serviceman to return to his homeland, lovestruck May decided to pack her bags and start a new life with him in the states.

May still lives in America to this day, and the now 95-year-old was recently visited by her Warrington-based niece Aileen Kintas.

“Deciding to make the move over to America and leaving all of her family behind must have been a very difficult time for all concerned,” said Padgate resident Aileen.

“My Uncle Ralph passed away fourteen years ago, but my Auntie May still lives in the US and is in good health.

“It was great to go over there and visit her as she had no children, but has plenty of nieces and nephews in both over in America and here in the UK.

“Both my auntie and uncle closely followed the Burtonwood Airbase and even came over to see it and the ballroom before it was pulled it down.”

After moving to the States during the final years of the Second World War, May quickly settled in the city of Peoria in Illinois.

And from an interview with May in the Pretoria Journal Star, printed just after she arrived in the country, it is clear that she was not too upset about leaving her hometown.

“If my family were here, I’d be just as happy in Peoria as I was in Warrington,” said May.