World War Two mystery love letters to be auctioned

Poignant reminders of a wartime love story are to be sold at auction.

A group of letters and other memorabilia recall the romance between Dot Preston and airman Sgt Harry Olsen.

Ms Preston kept the story secret until she visited her wartime billet - Beningbrough Hall in North Yorkshire - and was shown graffiti which read "1942 Gipsy - Olie".

After explaining she was Gipsy, she gave Sgt Olsen's letters to her daughter. They will be sold next month.

Ms Preston's daughter, Karen Plummer, said: "I decided I had to do something with them. I don't want her story to be forgotten."

Ms Plummer, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, first found out about her mother's time as "Gipsy'" during a visit to Beningbrough Hall, where Ms Preston lived in 1941 as an 18-year-old.

Ms Plummer said: "The staff were thrilled and gave us a tour.

"One of the guides, Eric Downer, showed her the names etched above a fireplace in the drawing room and asked, 'Do you know who Gipsy was?'

"She knew nothing about it and nearly collapsed. She said: 'That's me. I didn't know he (Olie) had written anything'."

Ms Preston then revealed the story of meeting Canadian Harry Olsen in a pub and how it was love at first sight. Gipsy was his nickname for her.

He was shot down in 1942 and despite surviving, he became a prisoner of war.

She kept his prison issue letters, often blacked out by censors, which reveal some of the strain he was under.

One, dated December 20, 1944, reads: "Dear Dot - Haven't heard from you for some time. Hope all is well.

"Would you send me a photo of yourself, just in case I don't see you again. Merry Xmas to you. Love Olie".

At the end of the war, Sgt Olsen was so unwell he could not remember his sweetheart's address and by the time his letters got to her, he had been sent back to Canada.

Ms Preston told her family: "We both finished up needing treatment for our nerves".

She died at the age of 67 in 1990. Sgt Olsen had a fatal heart attack aged 50 in 1967.

The 11 letters and related WW2 RAF war memorabilia are due to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers on 1 October.

They included PoW objects including rare escape committee items, German pass cards and French money.

A remaining mystery, said Ms Plummer, is how Sgt Olsen gave his lost love these items.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].