Alex Ritson

Robert and Willard had both served in the Pacific during World War II when they were teenagers, including fighting in the Battle of Luzon in the Philippines in 1945.

They said, you look too young to fight this war.

And it probably was true.

18 years old.

Willard recently turned 100, and Robert will do the same next month.

Oh man, I didn't think I'd make it that far.

I'm looking forward to it, to a certain degree.

After leaving the military, both men got married, had children and became teachers.

Reconnecting after more than eight decades means the pair can now enjoy reminiscing about all their shared history.

And it brings back a lot of good memories.

We had a good run, I think, for a couple of soldiers.

I put it onto this tandem Facebook page and I had quite a few inquiries.

But when I read Alice's story and she told me that she sometimes had three people trying to use one bike, I really wanted to give the bike to Alice.

And we really just had to work out how to get it across to Kenya.

But luckily, Alice had a contact in Glasgow, a Kenyan, and he came to pick up the bike.

And then it started its journey.

In fact, last September,

I almost lost hope a couple of times.

And then suddenly she contacted me on the 15th of February and said it arrived yesterday, which is Valentine's Day, the day of love.

And so I thought, that's amazing.