Envelope from America arrives in Lancaster - 80 years after it was posted

The envelope, which is dated October 5 1942, was discovered by manager Kevin Beattie, 39, when it arrived at The Sands Meadows care home in Hest Bank.

He immediately realised that ‘it wasn't your average letter’ and launched an appeal on social media to try to find out who the envelope belonged to.

Kevin discovered it was from Phillip Tattersall, who was living in Florida at the time while he was training for the British Flying Training School but sadly died in 1996.

It is believed Phillip tried to send the letter from Florida to his parents Cornelius and Ethel Tattersall, who lived at the property before it became a care home.

Although the actual letter was missing, Kevin said when he opened it and ‘saw the age of the envelope’, he realised it was something he has ‘never seen’ before.

Kevin said: "Once we opened it and saw the age of the envelope and the stamp, it dawned on us that it wasn't your average letter that we would have got.

"We've never seen anything like this locally before."

After seeing Kevin's appeal, Phillip's daughter Phillipa and granddaughter Tessa reached out to him to provide more information about the envelope.

They revealed that when he returned from Florida, Phillip became a RAF Flight Lieutenant and later served in northern Germany in World War two and flew a fighter bomber.

The family also said that Phillip married his wife Ruth and they lived in Morecambe before emigrating to Canada and having four children, including Phillipa.

Phillipa, who lives on an island near Vancouver, said: "I have been thinking about the power of social media and how quickly information gets passed to all of us.

"Certainly much quicker than that envelope delivered to The Sands Meadow.

"I recognised my father's handwriting as soon as I saw the envelope.

"The envelope probably contained a letter to update his parents on his life during training in Florida.

"He always stayed in close contact with them throughout their lives and would visit them.

"My father was a great storyteller and would be thrilled that this information be shared."

Kevin, of Morecambe, added: "It's just the wonder of social media because they live out near Vancouver so parts of the family have seen it and have got in touch with each other.

"Then they were able to get in touch with ourselves at the home.

"There was no letter inside the envelope and it was just the name of the person who it was addressed to.”

Kevin has tried to contact Royal Mail to find out why the envelope has only now been delivered.

He said: "They were unaware of where it had actually been so whether it has been found behind a desk while cleaning or whether it has just been on a shelf somewhere.

"It has just kind of fallen through the gaps really.

"They couldn't tell us which depot it had come from either unfortunately.

"But you can by the age of the envelope as well that it looks like it's been somewhere where the sun had been on the envelope.”