I cleared my Dad’s house after he died in 2008. Almost the last thing I found was a package in the corner of the loft, it contained 6 bundles with every letter he had written home to his Mum, Dad and Sister when he was in the army, from September 1943 to September 1947. There were 508 letters, he had never spoken of them.
I read and transcribed them all and felt I knew my Dad better afterwards. They filled many gaps but also raised new questions as he had to be secretive about where he was and what he was doing.
In a note with the letters Dad picked out his VE Day letter and explained that they were all very upset at not being allowed to celebrate. The only way they felt they could complain about all the duties and parades was to put this in letters home which they knew would be read by the censors!
I’ve included a photo of my Dad, who was in the Royal Signals, the photo was taken later in 1945 when he was in Cairo.
