A collection of letters written by Sergeant Wilfred Llewellyn Mitchell to his family, before he was killed in action in Greece, has been donated to The Tank Museum.
Sergeant Wilfred Llewellyn Mitchell served with the Royal Tank Regiment and wrote regularly to his wife, Beatrice, and young son, Brian, throughout his wartime service overseas.
The donated letters offer a poignant view into a soldier’s life in the Second World War, and the heartbreak they experienced being away from their loved ones.
In early letters from 1942, Wilfred highlights the physical intensity of a soldier’s life in the war. Wilfred writes to Beatrice: ‘Beatrice I am quite well and nothing to worry about, I see you noticed I had got thinner, I am but am still the same inside darling’.
In letters from 1943, Wilfred describes the month of May as ‘getting busy’, but a month later comments that he has not been in a tank for over 9 months. Things later take a turn when he tells Beatrice he will be ‘unable to be contacted for a while’, whilst he relocates.
In 1944, just a few weeks before his death, Wilfred writes to Beatrice and Brian explaining how he is ‘on guard’ and, as it is quiet, he will ‘endeavour to write a longer letter’. During the letter Wilfred acknowledges he has been away for the last few years and says: ‘But all this time dear I have been true to you, no other girl will ever interest me dear, all my love and kisses are only for you my darling wife and son.’
Wilfred ends the letter by saying: ‘I don’t think it will be that much longer and then what a lovely time we will have, our little family will go away and have a nice long rest…’
Sergeant Wilfred Llewellyn Mitchell was killed in action in Greece during a voluntary patrol in December 1944, just 12 days before a peace treaty was signed.
Tank Museum Marketing & Communications Manager, Lucy McCalister, said: “Wilfred’s letters offer a poignant reminder of the personal sacrifices made by families during the war, when many husbands and fathers never returned home.
“This donation of letters and documents emphasises the vital importance of preserving the voices and stories of those who gave their today for our tomorrow.”
More personal stories, medals, and vehicles of the Second World War can be discovered at The Tank Museum’s World War Two: War Stories exhibition.
