World War II documents discovered in Lanark home reunited with owner's family
A Lanark man who discovered a lost folder of original World War II documents hidden in an antique desk just before the 80th anniversary of VE Day has been able to reunite them with the son of their distinguished owner.
Lanarkshire Live told in May how construction company director Martin Reid had just chanced upon the treasure trove of letters, maps and photos wedged behind a drawer in an antique desk which he had bought at auction four years earlier.
He discovered that they had belonged to the late Ian Rodger OBE, who had served as a wartime army captain in Italy and Tunisia – and within days of sharing his story, was in contact with Mr Rodger's son Sandy and has since reunited him with the previously-unseen items.
Martin was thrilled to be able to hand over the green folder and its historic contents to Sandy, who now lives in the south of England, when he made a special trip to Edinburgh to collect his father's old papers.
The Lanark resident said: '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. The sole reason for bringing this story to light was to try and track down Ian Rodger's son and return the documents, and I am very pleased that we have done that.
'It certainly captured the imagination of many people – 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.'
Martin had regularly used the desk since buying it at auction in Glasgow for £110 in 2021, but only found the folder when recently moving furniture; while Sandy said he had never before seen the contents – which include an 80-year-old colour map of Tunisia from the British War Office, detailed route maps used by his regiment, typewritten letters from wartime commanders, reunion invitations and a photograph featuring both Captain Rodger and Major Jack Profumo, later a famous MP.
Sandy told how the folder was missed as he cleared the Glasgow home of his mother Isabel during the Covid lockdown in January 2021 as she moved into a care home, with restrictions at the time giving him a very limited period to carry out the task
He said: '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.
'His kind return of my father's old Second World War papers put right a small consequence of a much more recent crisis, Covid-19. They 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.'
Martin enlisted the help of the Church of Scotland to trace Ian's family, having discovered that he had been an elder at Wellington Church in Glasgow before he died in 2007, aged 91.
Sandy said how he is 'hugely grateful to Martin and to Cameron Brooks from the Church for their detective work', as well as to all those who drew the subsequent article to his attention put them in touch – and shared more about his father's life and impressive achievements after the war.
Mr Rodger, who was appointed MBE for his wartime service, was a solicitor and became a partner in Glasgow law firm Brechin Robb, lectured in accountancy law at Glasgow University; and was a co-founder of Scottish Opera as well as devoting years of voluntary service to the Scout Association, later being appointed OBE.
Sandy told how his father was inspired to help found Scottish Opera in the 1960s after enjoying performances in wartime Naples, Rome and Venice; and added of the newly-found papers: 'The perspective of a signals officer 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. The sense I have is that the war changed Dad and the course of his life, perhaps galvanising him into action as a leader in multiple areas of Scottish society, as well as making him a wonderful, if rather unusual, father.'
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