Mr Howard wrote 98 letters to his late wife, Mollie, during seven years he spent travelling across Europe as a farm worker.

The couple had met at a village feast in 1948, and Mr Howard, who was 23 at the time, was determined not to let her go.

As he travelled across the UK, Ireland, France and Holland in the late '40s and early '50s, the farm worker and machinery demonstrator wrote love letters on hotel writing paper declaring his feelings to his sweetheart.

But after arriving home one day to find a family friend snooping through the private letters, Mollie tore each one into more than 20 pieces, creating more than 2,000 fragments, some smaller than a thumbnail.

Mr Howard (82), of Jones Court, Ramsey, said: "If I knew I was going to be staying somewhere for a few days, then I would write to Mollie with my hotel address so she could write back.

"Over time, her collection of letters grew, until one day she got home and found a friend of the family reading them.

"But she didn't want to get rid of them, and so, instead, tore them up and put them inside a cushion."

The couple married in 1955, went on to have three children and six grandchildren, and kept the letters until about 1993, when Mr Howard decided to write his autobiography, Life on the Fen Edge.

He knew the letters would help him remember vital places and dates, so he delved into the cushion and began putting the pieces back together using a system whereby he separated the corner pieces from centre ones in piles.

After spending an hour a day working to restore the letters, for 15 years, Mr Howard completed the jigsaw and once he had all the information he needed, the pieces were stuffed back inside the cushion and sewn up again.

One letter ends: "It seems months since Sunday when I last saw you. There does not seem to be a lot more to write about, my love, so until we meet again, I send you all my love, from your ever loving sweetheart, Ted."

Mr Howard said: "I still miss Mollie terribly, but having the memories helps me through."

The pensioner now plans to write a second book based on the letters, which will be dedicated to his wife.

Life on the Fen Edge, is due to published by Bound Biographies.