The search is on for the rightful owners of a poignant handwritten letter, dated 25 August 1940, found by members of Mountbatten Hampshire’s retail team.

Shirley High Street shop manager, Rachel Thomson, found it among items being sorted for sale and is keeping it safe.

“My darling,” the letter reads. “I hope by the time you read my first letter to you, there will be no war, or rumour of war.”

It appears to be written to a new-born child from a father, W May. It is addressed Upper Stanley Avenue, Southampton. Mr May identifies himself as an ACP in the Royal Air Force.

He is 'sending a little present' to his child, the letter reveals, and he hopes it will mean something to them when they are older.

“Also, my darling, I may not be here then,” he adds, “So I would like you to know that if the worst comes to the worst and anything happens to your mother or me…Duff will see you are alright.”

He signs off, “I remain your loving father.”

One day earlier, nearby Portsmouth had recorded 100 people killed and 300 hundred injured in a single air raid, during the ongoing Battle of Britain.

On the same day the letter was written, the RAF bombed Berlin for the first time, prompting an attack on London in retaliation.

Just months later, over three days in November and December 1940, scores of Southampton residents were killed, hundreds were hurt and many important were buildings were destroyed, in what is known as the Southampton Blitz. Southampton was also home to the Spitfire, which was built at Woolston.

W May’s letter, written against a backdrop of uncertainty and fear, is especially moving as the country stops to remember those who have died in conflict, on both Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day.  

Can you help Mountbatten Hampshire’s Shirley shop team reunite the letter with a relative of Mr May? If you have any information, email [email protected]