Search for Cardiff authors of World War Two letters

Harry Hearl was a wireless operator on RSM Aquitania in World War Two.

A quest to find the Cardiff schoolgirls who wrote letters to a merchant navy seaman during World War Two is under way by his family in a bid to discover more about him.

Harry Hearl, who lived in Swindon, was in his 20s when he served on board RSM Aquitania.

During his service he received a number of letters from schoolchildren after he donated tennis equipment to their school.

But little is known about Mr Hearl and his connection to Cardiff.

So when a member of his family stumbled across a scrapbook he had kept, which contained several letters, his family hoped they would uncover more about him.

The letters were sent in the summer of 1940 by eight girls who were pupils at the former Ninian Park Girls' School in Grangetown.

The girls are likely to be in their 80s now but Mr Hearl's family hope they will get in touch with more information.

Mr Hearl was a wireless operator during the war and kept a scrapbook containing the letters he received from the children - Doris Llewellyn, Dorothy Evans, Olive Thomas, Myra Lewis, Phyllis Richards, Olive Sterling, Jean Sims and Olive Jackrell.

Jackie Hursey, a distant relative of Mr Hearl, explained: "He was my great-aunt's brother-in-law. We discovered the scrapbook while clearing my great-aunt's house of her possessions after she passed.

"It was just too good to throw out."

She held on to the book for years, but after attending a talk about wireless operators at her local ladies' club in Swindon, she decided it was time to discover more about Mr Hearl and his connections to Cardiff.

"I met him once as a child, but know very little of him," she said.

"All I know is that he lived with his wife in South Africa for years before moving back to England, but he died many years ago and had no children.

"His wife's name was Rhoda and I believe she passed away in a nursing home in Devon some 15 years ago."

Ms Hursey has not found any close family relatives of Mr Hearl's.

She also has no idea where his links to south Wales came from.

"The scrapbook is wonderful, but his connection with the school in Cardiff is a bit of a mystery," she said.

It is possible the letters were sent as part of a pen-pal school project with the merchant navy ship.

A photo in Harry Hearl's scrapbook says this photo was taken at 'Dymonds' in October 1940

Naval historian, Dr Phil Weir, said Mr Hearl had probably sent the tennis equipment from the USA on one of RMS Aquitania's trans-Atlantic voyages.

Dr Weir said life for Hearl would have been "hectic" as wireless operators often worked a "four hours on, four hours off" radio watch shift pattern.

However, the children who wrote to the seaman were more concerned with how he washed his clothes.

"I would very much like to know who does your washing?", one letter reads.

"Aquitania was a luxury liner and would have had good facilities," Dr Weir said.

"Though, she would have been carrying over 7,500 troops, so Hearl may have washed his clothes in a bucket."

Since the family launched their search for more information about Mr Hearl, Ninian Park Primary School has put out an appeal for anyone with information about him or any of the former pupils to get in touch.

Extracts from the letters

"I am very glad that no damage has been done to your ship. I have not sent a letter because I was not old enough, but now I am in Form 1 I am going to write all I can. Thank you very much for the present you sent to the school. We very much appreciate it." From Myra Lewis and Phyllis Richards.

"My brother also went to sea. He was on the unlucky ship Arlon and made twelve voyages on her during the Spanish war. He left before the thirteenth trip and on that voyage the ship was bombed and set on fire." From Olive Sterling.

"In your letter you asked if the war was having any effect on us. At school, it really makes no difference to us except that we must always have our gas masks with us. We often have air-raid practices in Cardiff and certain people are chosen to be casualties." From Doris Llewellyn and Olive Thomas.

"In the field next to our school there is a circus. We have not seen it yet, but hope to. When we are out to play we can hear the elephants trumpeting and the lions roaring." From Jean Sims and Olive Jacknell.

"First, what do you do in your spare time? Secondly, who does your washing? Do you have the same meals as you would have home? I will draw to a close so bye for now." From Dorothy Evans.