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Pte Cole family
Private Harry Cole wrote the letter to his mother
The family of a soldier who died on the retreat to Dunkirk during World War Two have finally received his last letter 80 years after he wrote it.
Pte Harry Cole, of the Suffolk Regiment, wrote the letter just before he was killed but it was never sent.
The letter to his mother was found with a collection of other post by a German soldier who handed them to the British embassy in 1968.
His surviving brothers Derek and Clemmie Cole have now been found.
They were tracked down by Suffolk County Council’s assistant archivist Heidi Hughes, who realised she lived in the same village where Clemmie still lives – Hasketon, near Woodbridge in Suffolk.
“I just wanted to cry with the emotions of it all as I realised it was somebody from my village,” she said.
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Suffolk Records Office
A German soldier handed the collection of post to the British embassy in 1968
In the letter, Pte Cole, 29, wrote: “Well Mother, Dad and boys, I guess I must close once again, hoping you all keep well, roll on when this do is over so we can get back to rest peace and quietness once again.
“Don’t worry if you have to wait a long while for a letter or card sometimes Mother, as we can’t always write for days at a time, also there is delay in getting it away.”
Clemmie, 87, said it was amazing to receive the letter after all that time had passed.
“It’s unbelievable that such a thing could happen,” he said.
Pte Cole wrote in the letter that he expected the German army would “soon be on the run and when that happens nothing will stop them getting back to Germany in double quick time”.
Clemmie said most of the soldiers did not know the real situation, adding: “I suppose like with all these things you live in hope.”
Clemmie Cole said it was “unbelievable” to get the the letter after 80 years
Suffolk Archives has produced a new online display showcasing extracts from undelivered letters written by soldiers from the Suffolk Regiment, including Pte Cole’s.
The letters spent almost 30 years tucked away in a German soldier’s attic, before he took them to his local British Embassy in Bonn, Germany, in 1968.
From there they were returned to the Suffolk Regiment Museum but, following an attempt to resend, many remained undelivered.
Claire Wallace, curator of the Suffolk Regiment Museum, said: “It is striking that their personalities and humour shine through these letters.”
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PA Media
Operation Dynamo 1940 saw more than 340,000 men rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk
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