Sandy Rodger and Martin Reid (Photo: Getty/iStock)
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 thanks to the kindness of a stranger and the help of the Church of Scotland.
Sandy is the son of Ian Rodger, who died in 2007 at 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 in the 6th Armoured Division Signal Regiment. During the War he took part in 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 man who went on to become a cabinet minister and the centre of the most notorious political sex scandal of the 20th century.
Rodger made much better post-War choices 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 in the 1960s after apparently being inspired by performances witnessed during his War years in Italy.
Rodgers’ wartime documents went missing in a piece of furniture that was sold at auction in 2021 to a man called Martin Reid. There they remained for years until Reid discovered them by chance stuck behind the drawer.
Reid spotted the connection to Wellington Church in the documents and contacted the Church of Scotland, appealing for help in finding the documents’ original owner.
The appeal, combined with some media coverage and a bit of digging by the Church, led Reid to Sandy Rodger, the only son of Ian.
Rodger said, “I am hugely grateful to Martin and to Cameron Brooks from the Church for their detective work, and to the multiple people who saw articles about the appeal and got in touch to let me know.
“The papers add to a fascinating collection of letters maps and photos, telling the story of the 8th Army’s advance through North Africa, Italy, and into Austria in the last three years of the War, defeat of the Germans turning into the race for Berlin which shaped Western Europe for the next 50 years.”
Lost WWII papers returned to veteran’s son after church investigation and appeal
