Dad’s last letter to his baby revealed after 60 years
THE daughter of a Second World War soldier has shared his heart- breaking final letter, which she only saw for the first time almost 60 years after it was written.
Lance Corporal James Ambrose died a prisoner of war in Rangoon Jail, Burma, after being captured by the Japanese on November 8, 1943.
The 29-year-old served in the King’s Regiment and had been operating behind enemy lines as part of an elite Commonwealth force known as the Chindits. While stationed in India, Mr Ambrose penned a letter to his then 19-month-old daughter Valerie and his wife Lucy. The letter, along with a birthday card, had remained secret for nearly 60 years until Lucy finally showed it to her daughter.
Liverpudlian Mr Ambrose wrote: “How nice it will be when we get to know each other properly. But cheer up my dear, the day is not far off when your mummy will say: ‘Daddy is coming home today’.”
Valerie, 79, from Cumbria, has now added the letter to the many tributes posted on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s online Wall of Remembrance.
Speaking about how she found the letter, Valerie said: “It wasn’t until after the war that my mother was informed of his death.
“She was so distraught and never remarried. I learnt from an early age never to mention the war. Then suddenly, 60 years later, mum handed me a box in which she’d kept a birthday card my father had sent from India and his last letter.”
In 2003 Valerie visited her father’s grave in CWGC Rangoon War Cemetery. She said: “It was wonderful to finally visit and see how beautiful the cemetery is.”