The son of a World War Two veteran has had his father’s wartime documents returned to him after they went missing behind the drawer of a desk.
Sandy Rodger was only reunited with the documents because of the kindness of a stranger and the assistance of the Church of Scotland.
Sandy is the son of Ian Rodger, who died in 2007 on the age of 91. By all accounts Ian Rodger had an eventful life and appears to have been something of a renaissance man.
Originally from Glasgow, Ian Rodger served as a captain within the sixth Armoured Division Signal Regiment. During the War he took part within the North African and Italian campaigns, receiving an MBE for his efforts. Among the documents is a wartime picture of Rodger with John Profumo, the person who went on to grow to be a cupboard minister and the centre of essentially the most notorious political sex scandal of the twentieth century.
Rodger made significantly better post-War decisions than his old comrade. He was a partner at a Glasgow law firm, taught accountancy, was an elder at Wellington Church in Glasgow, and was an awarded an OBE for his work with the Scouts.
He has also been credited with co-founding Scottish Opera within the Sixties after apparently being inspired by performances witnessed during his War years in Italy.
Rodgers’ wartime documents went missing in a chunk of furniture that was sold at auction in 2021 to a person called Martin Reid. There they remained for years until Reid discovered them by likelihood stuck behind the drawer.
Reid spotted the connection to Wellington Church within the documents and contacted the Church of Scotland, appealing for help find the documents’ original owner.
The appeal, combined with some media coverage and a little bit of digging by the Church, led Reid to Sandy Rodger, the one son of Ian.
Rodger said, “I’m hugely grateful to Martin and to Cameron Brooks from the Church for his or her detective work, and to the multiple individuals who saw articles in regards to the appeal and got in contact to let me know.
“The papers add to an enchanting collection of letters maps and photos, telling the story of the eighth Army’s advance through North Africa, Italy, and into Austria within the last three years of the War, defeat of the Germans turning into the race for Berlin which shaped Western Europe for the following 50 years.”
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