A huge part of my research has been trying to contact descendants and relatives of men who served on HMS India. I always figured that if we had these many letters and other ephemera from the camp then there was a chance that another family might as well. Whilst I have not found anyone with the volume of material we have, I have made many contacts and the stories, photographs and support that have been shared with me have been invaluable and I really couldn’t have written such a comprehensive book without them.
I have also had amazing support from elsewhere. The philately community, other writers – many people have been quick to help me out but what is really wonderful is that the support has continued and now I have my readers supporting me. On the weekend I got an email from someone I sing with in a local choir. She wanted to let me know that she had found another letter written by Arnold being sold on eBay. I had seen this letter online before but not for sale. Now it is and it is being sold in the US. I contacted the seller and explained that I was a relative and I had written a book about this subject and could I buy the letter directly. Unfortunately, the seller has decided to let it run to auction so I have bid and hopefully will be the successful purchaser. In the same email my singing friend alerted me to a tweet she had seen on twitter. A gentleman was trying to find out the story behind a notebook he had purchased. He wrote that the notebook was from the British Internment Camp, Norway but he knew nothing else about it. My singing friend recognized Arnold’s name and tweeted links to my website. I was immediately able to recognize Arnold’s hand in not only the writing but in the artwork as well. We have contacted the owner of the notebook and I am hoping to hear back from them soon. It would be a very wonderful thing if we were able to get this notebook back together with the letters and other items of Arnold’s from the internment camp.
Perhaps one of the greatest joys of finding the letters and other items belonging to Arnold is sharing them with my father-in-law, Richard, Arnold’s son. He is astounded every time I make a new discovery and his joy is infectious and spurs me on to keep hunting!
The notebook features a sketch of one of the hut fires drawn by Arnold .
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