Surrey woman who lost uncle in WWII urges others to learn about the past
We're hearing from Carol as this week marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the second World War in Europe.
A woman from Surrey is hoping that by releasing letters from her Uncle who died during World War Two - it will encourage others to learn about the past.
George William Reeves died at the age of 22. He was a Stoker 1st Class and passed away when the HMS Beverly went down in 1943.
George would consistently write home to his sister, checking in on the family and making sure she was doing well in school.
His niece Carol Murphy discovered the letters when her mum passed away. She had stored them at the bottom of a wardrobe but had forgotten that she still had them.
Carol's mum had dementia and would often talk about how she had lost the letters.
We're hearing from Carol as this week marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the second World War in Europe.
Carol told us how she felt discovering the letters: "We both got so emotional, it was amazing because there was such a big age difference between them. He was 22 and she was 12 when he died. He still kept in contact with her all that time when he was away."
"The letters just speak for themselves that they had such a lovely relationship. In some of the letters, he asked her to send things to him - like a penknife and some nail clippers. It was just so bizarre."
"We wanted to learn more, so we bought the book about the HMS Beverley. Ideally we'd like to learn a little bit more, I didn't know he was married and it wasn't until we looked back on him we found that he married before he went off to war - which is why mum didn't get the medals for him."
Part of the letter reads: "I'm glad you are getting on OK at your school, it's good to know that you are coming out top and in a play, eh, maybe you will be a film star in a years' time"
Carol said: "Sometimes it seemed they were speaking in morse code as well. So it's like they had a little code between each other. It's just lovely to see that they had that relationship."
"He was obviously very proud of her, and very protective of her - otherwise he wouldn't have kept on writing home."
Carol says she's hoping by releasing the letters, and George's story - more people will dig into their past and learn more about history.
"It's a part of history, and history is a big thing. The youth of today need to pick up on these things and learn - and know what it's like to actually write a letter. No one writes letters these days."
"I think it should be brought back into schools, back into the curriculum. Lets write a letter someone who's away at war, or the army. It would be a lovely thing to do, getting a class to sit down and write a letter to someone."
Carol is releasing George's letters as part of the Letters to Loved Ones campaign.
It's in partnership with the Imperial War Museum, who are asking young people and families across the UK to share the stories they find.
The group say during the Second World War, letter writing helped to ease the pain of separation between soldiers and other displaces people, and their loved ones.
Receiving letters from family and friends was also vital for morale, keeping men and women connected to the homes they had left behind.