An envelope sent from America has finally arrived in the UK, 80 years after it was posted, but without the letter inside. The envelope, dated October 5, 1942, was found by Kevin Beattie, the manager of The Sands Meadows care home in Lancashire.
Kevin posted an appeal on social media to try to find out who the envelope belonged to. He discovered that the envelope was from Phillip Tattersall, who lived in Florida and was training for the British Flying Training School, but he passed away in 1996.
Phillip attempted to send the letter to his parents, Cornelius and Ethel Tattersall, who lived in the property which is now the care home.
Although the actual letter was missing, Kevin realized that the envelope was something he had “never seen” before when he opened it and “saw the age of the envelope.”
When letters arrive damaged at the home, they usually come in a clear plastic bag with a warning to contact Royal Mail if there is anything of value, according to Kevin. But this envelope was different.
Phillip’s daughter, Phillipa, and granddaughter, Tessa, contacted Kevin after seeing his social media appeal and provided more information about the envelope.
They revealed that when Phillip returned from Florida, he became a RAF Flight Lieutenant and later served in northern Germany in WW2, flying a fighter bomber.
Phillip married his wife Ruth and lived in Morecambe, Lancashire, before emigrating to Canada and having four children.
Kevin contacted Royal Mail to find out why the envelope has only been delivered now but thinks it has “fallen through the gaps.” Royal Mail was unaware of its location and could not tell them which depot it had come from.
Kevin said, “But you can by the age of the envelope as well that it looks like it’s been somewhere where the sun had been on the envelope. It wasn’t white paper, there was some yellowing in the paper so it looked aged.”
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