Family of late Normandy veteran from Burnley discover significant piece of history among his possessions

A neatly folded surrender document, marked ‘top secret,’ was discovered by the family of Richard Preston, who died at the age of 99 last year.

Living his entire life in Burnley, Richard joined the Home Guard in Cliviger before joining the regular army in 1943. He was believed to be one of the last surviving soldiers to have served in the famed 79th Armoured Division of the British Army in WW2.

In early spring 1945, Richard was part of the 79th A.D. Headquarters staff in Germany when the end of the war was in sight. A telex message, marked as 'SECRET' detailing when the war was to end with the surrender of the German forces in Europe, was circulated to all operational units involved in the fighting. The telex detailed that the war would end at 0800 hrs on Sat 5th May (1945)

Since his death, Richard's family have been sorting through the personal items left by their father and the telex was rediscovered after last being seen over 40 years ago. One of Richard's children, Liam, remembers seeing the telex all those years ago. His father explained that the area of Dunkirk was excluded from the agreement, because the German garrison there refused to surrender to the Polish army who were surrounding them. Richard went on to explain to Liam that the German forces believed that they would be executed by the Polish Forces if they surrendered. The Nazis had inflicted extensive atrocities on the Polish people throughout the war and the garrison in Dunkirk feared retribution for those atrocities. The stand off was eventually resolved when the Allies sent other forces to the Dunkirk area to assist the Polish army. The German garrison finally surrendered a couple of days later.

Liam said: "As a 19-year-old soldier, who had been involved in the war in Europe, Dad realised that the telex, though marked 'secret' was a significant moment in world history and wanted to keep it."

The Preston family are still to decide what is to happen to the telex and other items associated with their father's wartime service. Options include donating to museums or war historians so that the various items can be preserved for future generations.