Gilbert Bradley received a huge volume of letters from his lover, Gordon Bowsher (Picture: Caters)

A collection of war-time love letters have uncovered a gay relationship which was kept secret for decades.

Mark Hignett, from Oswestry, Shropshire, bought the letters to put on display in his museum – but didn’t realise they told such an epic love story until he studied them more closely.

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The 62-year-old uncovered the relationship as he transcribed the letters, which he bought on eBay for £1,000, after hunting for war memorabilia from Shropshire for a small museum he runs.

He said: ‘The value of these letters lies in the fact most love letters from homosexuals at the time were burned, because if they were found, they would have been used as evidence.


‘The story really has a life of its own, it’s a fantastic love story to rival the Titanic.’



The letters are from Gordon Bowsher, writing to his lover Gilbert Bradley who was fighting as a soldier in World War II.

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Homosexuality was illegal in Britain until 1967, and the couple talk about keeping their relationship secret as well as travelling to California together after the war.

There are over 300 letters from Gordon, written between 1939 and 1944.

Mark, who has two grandchildren, said: ‘Gilbert’s dad owned a shipping company and tea plantations in India, so we know he came from a wealthy family.

‘Gordon’s family owned land and they talked about all the things they were planning to do together.

‘We think their mums knew they were gay, but there’s reference to not ever letting Gilbert’s dad find out. The letters are full of humour and they weren’t suppressed in any way.

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‘They talked about keeping their relationship secret, but they openly talked about friends who were gay.’

When Mark first bought the letters, he presumed they were between a man and a woman as they were only ever signed ‘G’.

It wasn’t until their full names were revealed that Mark realised he’d uncovered a particularly rare war artefact.

He said: ‘When I was half way through transcribing the letters I realised they were from Gordon. Then this story just took on a life of its own.

‘The couple didn’t stay together and there’s a big chunk of the letters missing, so we don’t know why they split up.

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‘We do know that Gordon went to California on his own though where he set up a horse stables.

‘Gilbert worked for Cadbury’s and was a junior studio assistant for the BBC before the war. They were such characters involved in all sorts and they were full of humour.

‘Gordon talks about taking afternoon tea at the Savoy, and how he’d stand up every time the porter asked someone with a Bentley to move their car so people would think he owned a nice vehicle.’

Gilbert Bradley (Picture: Caters)

According to Mark, Gilbert was allegedly ‘picked up’ by Conservative MP Sir Paul Latham at ‘The Pink Sink’ – a bar underneath the Ritz.



Gilbert died in 2008 aged 92, and Gordon had died around 15 years previously.

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Mark added: ‘There was only two or three years between them and from what I can gather, they were never found out.’

Mark bought the letters from eBay as a seller listed them in bundles of three.

Gradually, over 18 months, Mark acquired them all – setting him back over £1,000.

He now plans to tell Gilbert’s life story through the letters, as the collection also includes around 700 letters from his family.

Mark said: ‘I’ve transcribed every letter and I’ve even got hold of a picture of Gilbert. I plan to make a book about Gilbert’s life, but told through the eyes of others. It’s just a beautiful story.’