Widnes Memories: War picture archive unearthed in old tin

By Runcorn And Widnes Weekly News on Nov 26, 09 12:42 PM in 1900-1945

A WIDNES couple who discovered a treasure trove of First and Second World War photographs in a tin including shots of prisoners of war (PoWs) and war-ravaged France have appealed for help to find out more them.

Alan and Elaine Leather, of Ditton, found the pictures along with a bosun's whistle and cloth bag while house-clearing following the death of Elaine's mum Phyllis Osborne.

The pictures belonged to Private Frederick Lowe, Elaine's grandfather, who was a cadet and served in the Volunteer Special Service during the First World War, and his son, also called Frederick Lowe, who served in the Navy during the Second World War.

The First World War artifacts also include a postcard depicting the Battle of the Somme, a postcard portraying a map of the world - colour-coded to show the different empires - and a letter from the front.

Most of the photographs are from Freddie Jnr's Navy career. Some show Nazi PoWs being escorted and unloaded from boats onto a destroyer, while many show sailors posing with their guns and cannons.

However, some remain a mystery. Elaine said she was surprised to find pictures taken inland, even though Freddie Jnr was in the Navy.

In one photograph a soldier perched on a hill surveys a smouldering, battered town, and Mr and Mrs Leather are keen to find out where it was taken.

They said Freddie Jnr did not talk about his war experiences and had nightmares after it but they know he served on HMS Glendower and HMS Prince Leopold.

The latter ship was sunk by a G7es 'Gnat' torpedo from U-boat U-621, captained by Hermann Stuckmann, shortly after the D-Day landings.

Alan and Elaine believe Freddie may have been on board when the Leopold was torpedoed because a newspaper clipping among the pictures has a story about a shipwrecked British Navy crew boarding a US frigate.

Elaine and Alan intend to keep the pictures for the time being and are not making hasty decisions, but they want advice on what to do with the photographs and working out who's in them.

Elaine said: "We were just going through mum's stuff and found this old tin in a wardrobe. We didn't know she had the tin and it was just going to get binned.

"The pictures have been sealed in this tin for all these years and are in brilliant condition."

Anyone with information on these photos can email Oliver Clay

The pictures (in chronological order) show: Freddie Lowe during the Second World War; Alan and Elaine Leather; an aircraft carrier, believed to be HMS Khedive; a village smokes either during or after a battle.

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