Man reunited with father’s wartime documents found hidden in desk drawer

A man has told of his delight at being reunited with Second World War documents that belonged to his father after they were found hidden in a desk 18 years after he died.

Martin Reid bought the desk at auction four years ago but only discovered the folder of documents recently when he was moving furniture and found them behind a drawer that had been stuck.

Mr Reid discovered the papers had belonged to the late Ian Rodger, from Glasgow, who served with 2 Squadron of the 6th Armoured Division Signal Regiment, a unit of the British Army, and fought in Italy and Tunisia during the war.

After hearing about the discovery following an appeal for information made through the Church of Scotland, Mr Rodger’s son Sandy came forward to claim the documents.

He travelled from his home in Rye in East Sussex to meet Mr Reid in Edinburgh on Thursday and to thank him personally as he collected the folder.

Martin Reid found the papers in a desk he had bought at auction (Church of Scotland/PA)PA Media - Church of Scotland

Mr Rodger, 62, said he had a collection of his father’s old papers and letters from the war but had never seen the contents of the folder before, and he thanked Mr Reid for his “kind return” of the documents.

He said: “In January 2021, with my 90-year-old mother Isabel’s health fast deteriorating, I travelled from home in Sussex to Glasgow to help her move into a care home.

“Under lockdown rules this allowed little time for preparation or even a proper goodbye, and then I was left with less than two days to clear her flat, trying to preserve the memories of her own and my father’s long and rather remarkable lives.

“In the process I missed a folder of papers which had fallen behind a desk drawer, and, but for Martin’s kindness and initiative, they would have remained lost.

“I am hugely grateful to Martin and to Cameron Brooks from the church for their detective work, and to the multiple people who saw articles about the appeal and got in touch to let me know.”

The folder contained photographs, letters and maps relating to the British Army’s involvement in the campaign known as the Liberation of Italy between 1943 and 1945.

Ian Rodger held the rank of captain during the war and can be seen in a wartime photo which appears to feature Major Jack (John) Profumo – who later became a secretary of state but whose political career ended after an affair with Christine Keeler came to light in the 1960s.

The papers lay hidden for years (Church of Scotland/PA)PA Media - Church of Scotland

After being demobilised, Mr Rodger practised as a solicitor in Glasgow, co-founded Scottish Opera and was involved in the Scouts and Wellington Church of Scotland in Glasgow where he was an elder.

He died aged 91 in 2007 and in March 2021 his desk was put up for sale at McTear’s Auctioneers in Glasgow. His widow Isabel died in February 2023.

Mr Reid, from Lanark in South Lanarkshire, bought it for £110 and used it regularly at his home over the years, not knowing the historic papers were hidden inside until he found them in late March this year.

Mr Rodger, a business consultant, said: “The papers add to a fascinating collection of letters maps and photos, telling the story of the 8th Army’s advance through North Africa, Italy, and into Austria in the last three years of the war, defeat of the Germans turning into the race for Berlin which shaped Western Europe for the next 50 years.

“The perspective of a signals officer, constantly on the move, keeping troops connected to their command, offers an amazing overview of the conflict.

“There isn’t much mention of the human cost of the war, and my father never really spoke of this, perhaps typically.

“But it’s a proud and detailed account of an extraordinary endeavour, told by a young man who, with the benefit of hindsight, survived and could be said to have had a ‘good war’.

Mr Reid said he is delighted to have been able to reunite Mr Rodger with his father’s papers.

“This was a story that certainly captured the imagination of many people and Sandy got in touch with the church the morning the article was published, which was rather astonishing given he lives on the south coast of England,” Mr Reid said.

“The maps, letters and photographs are utterly fascinating and provide a really important insight into the British Army’s involvement in the Italian campaign against Adolf Hitler’s Germany.

“Sandy is a lovely guy and very proud of his father and it was very moving seeing his reaction as he leafed through the folder and shared anecdotes.”