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Churchill letter discovered in council house drugs raid
POLICE were yesterday trying to trace the owner of a hand-written letter from the wife of Winston Churchill which was recovered during a drugs raid on a Yorkshire council house.
Officers were executing a warrant on Coniston Road in Mexborough, near Doncaster, last month and found the letter and three cheques mounted on a card inside a plastic sleeve.
A quantity of heroin was also recovered and a 55-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of theft and possessing Class A drugs at the property.
Her 32-year-old son and her sister, aged 41, were also arrested on suspicion of theft. All three have been bailed until October while police continue to make further inquiries.
The two-sided letter, dated 1942, is addressed to a married woman living in the South Yorkshire area but officers said they did not want to release the name before using other means to verify any claim of ownership.
In the letter, Clementine Churchill thanks the woman for making a donation to the Red Cross Aid to Russia fund, of which she was president.
The letter, signed by Mrs Churchill, says: "This is to acknowledge with grateful thanks your contribution to Mrs Churchill's Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund."
The Aid to Russia fund, set up by the Red Cross in 1941 to pay for clothing and medical supplies to send to Britain's Russian allies, raised some 8m during the Second World War.
Pc Steve Roberts, of Doncaster Police, said: "The address on the letter is not in Doncaster but it is in the South Yorkshire area. I am confident it is not a reproduction as it is hand-written on both sides.
"We believe that it would have been stolen in a burglary and it must have great historical if not monetary value. It certainly did not belong in the house where it was found by officers.
"Records of burglaries have been examined, but nobody has specifically reported anything like this going missing, although it could have been in a substantial theft and then passed on.
"We are not releasing every detail about the letter because anyone who does know where it rightfully belongs will be able to tell us who it is addressed to and some of the contents.
"We urge anyone with any information about the letter or who believe it may belong to them to get in touch with us."
Anyone who can help should contact Doncaster Police on 01302 385199.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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