Couple who fell in love in warzone tie the knot (From Echo)

Couple who fell in love in warzone tie the knot

12:20am Saturday 28th November 2009

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TWO soldiers on duty in Afghanistan proved love can find a way, even in the harshest of settings.

As first meetings go, Kabul Airport would not be at the top of most people’s list, but that is exactly where newlyweds Adam and Stefanie Bliss first clapped eyes on each other.

Adam, a soldier in the Household Cavalry, who grew up on Canvey, had volunteered to go to Afghanistan to assist interpreters working for the British Army.

Stefanie, a Royal Air Force policewoman, was frisking military passengers at Kabul Airport as they flew out to the country’s various battlefields.

The two met in June 2008, when one of Adam’s flights was delayed by problems commonplace in a warzone and 16 months later they were married.

Adam, 21, said: “I remember I was held up for about four hours and we just got talking.

“I don’t know if it was love at first sight, we just got on well really.”

Romance soon blossomed, as Adam made a point of stopping by to see Stefanie every time he was in Kabul.

Stefanie, 24, originally from Newcastle, recalls: “He was coming through Kabul Airport a lot for his job, now I think he was making up excuses just so he could come and see me!”

Stefanie’s tour ended in June 2008 when she returned to the UK, while Adam flew back in September the same year.

Stefanie said: “I was hoping it would still be the same when we got home, but I was worried it would be the military equivalent of a holiday fling. But, when he got back I went to his place on Canvey and I pretty much haven’t left there since.”

The pair got married on October 4 and are currently living together in military accommodation in Putney, south west London.

Stefanie added: “Everyone is absolutely amazed this happened in Afghanistan when all the stories you hear from there are so miserable.

“Even though it has a special place in my heart, I’d be quite grateful if I never went back.”

However, Adam is more philosophical about the country where he met his wife, saying: “There’s good and bad there. Sometimes I was thinking, ‘why am I here?’ and at other moments it made you realise why I became a soldier. I’m glad I volunteered though. I’d never have met Stef otherwise.”

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