WWII veteran’s postcard delivered 77 years later
A letter written over 77 years ago by a World War II veteran has finally made its way home to his family.
Bill Caldwell was a little over 18 years old when he joined England's Royal Navy.
During his first week of training, he sent a postcard to his family back home.
The note was addressed to Mr Caldwell's "Uncle Fred" and was postmarked 1943 with a stamp saying: "Post early in the day."
Strangely enough, the postcard was not delivered to his childhood home, where some of his relatives still live, until February 2021 – over 77 years later.
While Uncle Fred has since died as well as Mr Caldwell 25 years ago, Fred's daughter Joanna Creamer said reading the 77-year-old postcard was "surreal".
"Well I am in blue at last. I did not think it would be like this – you don't get much time for yourself, do you?" the postcard said, according to the BBC.
"But I like it alright.
"I will write a letter to you all when I get half a chance so will you hold on a bit? I have 19 weeks here yet.
"Give my love to everyone. Love, Bill."
Mr Caldwell's daughter Elizabeth told the Daily Mail the story was "crazy" and understood it was "hard to believe".
She said her father loved to tell stories, but he would never write.
"To actually see his handwriting was beautiful," she said.
A spokesperson for the Royal Mail explained to the BBC that it was likely someone put the aged postcard back into the postal system recently.