Mystery of love letters found at back of cupboard Hunt for owner of 70-year-old collection
Y dearest darling Bob, here’s hoping to find you in the best of health and also I should like you to know that I love you more than ever.”
Those were the words etched at the start of more than 170 letters written more than 65 years ago to soldier Robert Pemberton from his sweetheart Celia Jackson.
For decades these little love notes have been hidden away at the back of a cupboard belonging to Alan Wall, who lived in Strode House, Tamworth.
They sat there until they were discovered by his daughter in 2001, as he was moving house to Bridgewater Street in the town.
But Alan again buried them away and forgot all about them until the now 73-year-old moved once more, this time to Carisbrook in Glascote, near Tamworth.
Now Alan and wife Margaret are trying to track down the corresponding couple’s families or friends – and return the love letters to their rightful owners.
“It felt wrong to keep them any longer and I didn’t want to throw them away, so I tried to track down anyone I could,” he says.
“My daughter first found them when the council told us to clear out our cupboards at Strode House because there had been burglaries around there.
“We had no idea how long they had been there – I imagine they were put there many years ago and have just been left behind. “
M“It’s incredible that these have survived for so long.
“They are living history and they belong to somebody. It would be great to find out more about the couple and what happened to their families.
“I hope someone reading this will come forward with information.”
The brown cardboard box is full to the brim of letters, documents, cards and photographs.
We know the soldier is Robert Pemberton, who lived in Spinning School Lane, Tamworth, and was drafted into the Army in 1949. A lance corporal, he was based at Catterick Camp, in Richmond, Yorkshire, and served with the 3rd Royal Signals Squadron.
His “future wife”, as she describes herself, and who has penned the majority of the 176 letters, is Celia letters s Jackson Jackson, of Coppice Drive Drive, Dordon Dordon. The correspondence runs from 1949 until 1951 and includes all kinds of details about what Aunt Dot Lyndon, Morris James and Uncle Bob are up to.
There’s news that Brenda is starting to court a Fred Hewitt from Fazeley; Lady Canning has opened the Argyle Factory; there’s a flu pandemic afflicting Birmingham; and there have been floods at Kingsbury.
The letters date from before Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and the stamps carry the head of King George VI. Each is written by hand on a multitude of different types of paper.
There are also letters from Fred Beakes, Arthur Bettridge, and a L/Cpl Maurice James, who served in Malaya.
Most of the letters are addressed to L/Cpl Pemberton at the Catterick Ca Camp, although some were sent to ab a base in Gloucestershire.
As well as the letters, there are po postcards from Celia’s holidays to Bla Blackpool, old photos and docume ments confirming that Robert was be being enlisted into the Army, and a tin tiny blood transfusion book.
““Reading the letters has been like foll following a soap opera, but this is mu much better than anything EastEnd Enders can put out there,” said Mike Tay Taylor, committee member of the Ald Aldergate Club, which is helping in the quest for information.
“Th “This is an unbelievable find. It’s like a personal time capsule that has been forgotten.
“We don’t know what happened to them, or what became of them.
“Did Robert and Celia ever get married? Did they live in Tamworth? We just don’t know.
“I was amazed when Alan handed me this box of treasures. I have read every single letter in it and, to be honest, I feel like I know them.
“The letters stop suddenly, so I do hope there is nothing bad at the end of this tale.
“It would be fantastic to present these letters back to the family who they belong to and fill in the missing pieces of the story.”
Anyone who has any information about the couple, or knows the family are asked to contact reporter Nick Reid on 01827 848600 or Mike Taylor on 07715 530959.