LOOKING back to the week that was December 2 to December 8, 20 years ago...

A NORTH East couple were preparing to celebrate Christmas with their identical triplets, who were born against huge odds, in December 2004.

Frances and Colin Taylor were told by their doctors that there was little prospect of having naturally-conceived identical babies.

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But Olivia, Jessica and Laura were born prematurely in Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), providing sisters for five-year-old Ellie.

Mrs Taylor, 36, said: “They are definitely little miracles.

Somebody said I had a bigger chance of winning the lottery than having these babies, but I know which one I would rather have.

“I wouldn’t swap them for anything.”

Children had been experiencing life in the US Army Medical Corps during the Second World War.

Members of the 42nd Field Hospital Re-enactment Group, which is based in Hartlepool, visited the town’s Grange Primary School, to help the children learn about the war.

The ten and 11-year-old pupils had the chance to put on helmets and clothes that Army medics would have worn.

Teacher Frances Wilson said: “The children were learning about the Second World War as part of the national curriculum and this is a way of making it all come alive for them.

“They really enjoyed wearing the clothes and helmets, but they really learned something as well.”