Letter· 1940s
A thank-you for knitted mittens arrives 76 years late
By the Editors · As reported by Forces News, 17 December 2020
FoundHigh Wycombe, United Kingdom
Reunited — it went back to its owner or their family.
Staff at the secondhand bookseller World of Books found a wartime letter inside a used book. Lance Corporal John Wheldon-Williams had written it from Italy in the winter of 1944 to thank Pat Moore, a High Wycombe schoolgirl who knitted comforts for soldiers; he had received her mittens. The letter never reached her because she had moved. Pat died in 1964, aged 36. With help from the British Red Cross and an amateur historian, the firm traced her daughter, Lynn Cook, and the note finally reached the family in December 2020.
This is our summary of a find reported in the press. For the full story, photographs and any updates, read the original report in Forces News.