Talk about lost mail: wartime postcards misplaced 30 years ago returned to family

Thirty years after it was lost, a collection of wartime postcards has been reunited with its family — thanks to a lucky find at a Nova Scotia yard sale. 

When Tara Smith first spotted a small, green box at the annual 50-mile yard sale in Musquodoboit, it was the embossed leather that caught her eye.

But it wasn't long before she realized the contents were the real treasure.

"When I looked further into it, you could see that it was a soldier's entire collection of cards that were sent home," Smith told CBC's Information Morning.

"It was very obvious that they were from a man to his family, and the family was from Westville."

The seller was asking 25 cents per postcard. Smith, who couldn't stand to see what "was obviously a treasured collection" split up, offered $15 for the whole box and went on her way.

A soldier's story

Smith began displaying the handwritten notes — penned by a Second World War soldier named William J. Allen — as part of the Remembrance Day display at Taylor Timber Mart in Musquodoboit, where she works. 

The messages were sent weekly from various stations in western Europe and reveal a loving relationship between Allen, his wife and two sons. Many of the notes end with "I love you" or "I miss you," said Smith. 

"This was the story of his entire time away at World War II."

She said the postcards captured the hearts and curiosity of customers who came into the shop to see the display.

"We had enormous interest in the postcards," said Smith. "Everyone wanted to know who this guy was."

'Over the moon'

Thinking she might be able to track down a picture of the soldier's family, Smith posted on the Facebook page of the Royal Canadian Legion's Westville branch.

Within an hour, someone responded and connected Smith to another William Allen — the soldier's now 91-year-old son, Bill Allen Jr.

Smith sent the cards to Allen and his wife, Hilda, who was moved to tears when she saw the treasured box for the first time in three decades. 

The couple met Smith at the Timber Mart on Dec. 19. It was like reuniting with family, said Smith.

She said Hilda Allen recalled seeing the box containing the postcards on her mother-in-law's dresser, but never knew what it contained.

William J. Allen survived the war, but died in the mid-1980s. When his wife died a few years later, the box was lost without anyone realizing its value.

"With ... everybody readjusting to the loss, it was never thought of again until Hilda saw the box when I sent it to her," said Smith. "She was over the moon!"

Treasured forever

As for the cards themselves, they'll be offered to the Pictou County Military Museum in Westville to prevent them from ever ending up at a yard sale again.

"If anyone is curious to see them, that's where they'll end up," said Smith.

"And they'll be treasured there forever."