Several years ago I purchased - at auction - a series of letters from Lt. Don Smith written abroad between 1943 and 1944.
I am not a WWII collector (I'm a stamp collector and these were at a stamp auction). I was intrigued enough to buy them, and after reading them, I put them away. It just dawned on me the other day... Don (if he is still alive) or his family may not know that they exist - they were all addressed to Captain Duncan H. Taylor of Winnipeg, Manitoba...
I found a notice of Captain Taylor's death through "Last Post" (
link to the posting here). He passed away in 1993 -- I'm assuming that as a result, his possessions may have found their way into auction.
The letters are generally letters to a friend, but they hint towards Don's military service - the fact that he wrote from hospital twice over the period of letters, how we was dismayed at one point about not being at the front, some insight into Captain Taylor's experiences, hints towards morale, and an illustration he did of the Italian countryside.
I know very little of Lt. Don Smith.
In each letter, he writes "LT. D. A. SMITH 3 C.I.B. Sp. Gp. (S.L.I.) C.A.O. C.M.F."
Again, I know very little as to what all these letters mean.
He signs each letter with "Don"... therefore, I did a bit of searching on a Don A. Smith and that's where I determined "S.L.I." was Saskatoon Light Infantry -- he is listed as a
Lieutenant on this site.
and I can see that he had some
diary entries that they recorded.
Other than that, I know nothing.
How would I go about finding out his whereabouts and/or his descendants? Can I hire someone to do the search for me (as much as I'd like to do it myself, I'm always tied up with my work with very little free time). I'm willing to invest a bit of money to see whether his discendants have any interest in these letters (if not, suggestions on where I should donate them?) Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated.