ONE of the greatest tragedies in maritime history turned out to be 'a blessing in disguise for a Winkleigh couple, who would not be together today if the Titanic had not sunk in 1912.

Bob and Rose Horsley are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this month, but they would have never met if a passenger on the ill-fated liner had not died when the ship sank after hitting an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland.

Bob's grandmother Sophie was married to Charlie Warren, who died in the disaster while on his way from Southampton to America to plan a new life for his wife and their five children.

After her husband's death Sophie went on to marry Charlie's best friend Robert Horsley —Bob's grandfather. So, as the present day Bob explained, if Charlie Warren had not died he would not have been here today nor would generations of the Horsleys.

It was only ten years ago that Bob finally pieced together the connection of his family with the famous disaster.

He said: 'We obviously knew about the story of the Titanic but it's ironic that if she hadn't gone down we would not be here today.

'There must also be thousands of people out there who would not necessarily be alive today. In our family there was my dad, his brother Jim and all their children, who had children of their own. It's incredible.'

The disaster did not affect Bob's love of the sea himself, as he served in the Royal Navy for 28 years and came out as a Chief Petty Officer, marine engineer artificer.

He met Rose in a Portsmouth pub, where it was love at first sight, even though Bob was on crutches at the time. He asked her out to watch a couple of rugby matches and the couple have been inseparable ever since.

They have two sons, Robert, 39, and Mark, 38, who works as a manager at Okehampton Community Hospital.

The family moved to Okehampton in 1984 when Bob worked at the nuclear submarine complex in Plymouth.

Bob now runs his own specialist engineering firm in Okehampton, RWH and Sons Ltd, and is a former president of Okehampton Rotary and past master of the Lodge of Obedience.

Rose, a trained nurse, worked in nursing homes and the Castle Hospital and the town's old district hospital. She also used to run two sewing shops, Sew n Sews in Okehampton and another in Torquay.

The 40 years have not diminished Bob's love for his wife.

He told the Times: 'She is just wonderful. It was love at first sight and I cannot have asked for a better wife. Rose has been a wonderful wife to me and a wonderful mother to our children.'

Rose is just as happy with her husband: 'Bob has always been a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. He has a wicked sense of humour, hard working and very generous.'

That sense of humour is evident as Bob remembers the first time he met Rose in the Portsmouth pub.

He said: 'She took advantage of a poor matelot, who just couldn't get away!'

Obviously, Bob is glad he didn't and, in his way, grateful for the many positives that came from the tragedy of the Titanic almost 100 years ago.