Letter from Dunkirk soldier arrives 80 years later

Letter from Dunkirk soldier arrives 80 years later

A poignant yet remarkable story this - an incident one can scarcely imagining still happening but which I suppose we will keep seeing as more historical material from the period is unearthed, despite the lengthening passage of time since the end of the war.

An intriguing concatenation of circumstances looks to have led to this wartime letter and several others turning up after a prolonged period of time - first in the attic of a German ex-officer almost 30 years after first being written and now over 50 years later finally finding their way back (at least in part) to the families or villages of the senders, thanks to the work of the Suffolk Regiment Museum and later the Suffolk County Council's Archives.

source - Suffolk Archives

In the instance of Private Harry Cole the archivists at Suffolk County Council also managed to locate surviving relatives in the persons of his two younger brothers, a quite incredible achievement after all these years made even more so by the fact that one of the brothers and an SCC archivist both live in the same village. 

The fact that the siblings are still alive and remain in the same part of the country from which their brother would have left to join up brings a whole new level of immediacy to this particular story and serves as a welcome reminder that for all the time that has passed since the end of the Second World War 75 years ago it remains a relatively recent event in our history with people still alive today who were directly affected by it.  All the more reason then to applaud Suffolk Archives for its work in trying to return these letters to their rightful owners and, where that has not been possible, to produce an excellent online exhibition featuring some of them.  It is a fine example of local history within the context of a global war, which I look forward to delving into in detail and which hopefully might reunite a few more families with these long-lost reminders of relatives and their sacrifices during the Second World War.

The Victorian soldier who served in World War Two

The Victorian soldier who served in World War Two

If ever there was someone who lived up to the adage "old soldiers never die" then this fellow must surely be he. What a fantastic record, and what a life he must have led! I admire his obvious passion for what he seemed to feel was his calling (I particularly like the fact that he "missed" army life after the First World War (!) so much so that he volunteered for service in Ireland) and marvel even more so at his good fortune to survive so many wars! The fact that he had such an incident-packed life and was highly decorated merely adds to the story and holds him in even higher esteem.
What it must have been like for him to see the amazing advances made over the course of his life (from the 1898 Anglo-Sudan War, above, to working at the Admiralty, left, in World War Two) I can't imagine but obviously the desire to serve his country never left him and I'm so glad that a house clearance (the kind of thing I feel sure has and will continue to lead to such incredible, hitherto unknown, discoveries) has unearthed this remarkable story of an honourable and marvellous man and his life in the Forces.