As veterans marked the 70th anniversary of the famous St Nazaire raid during the Second World War, a chance find in a Helston charity shop has given a fascinating glimpse back into the past.

As part of his research into his family tree, Stephen Abraham, from Jubilee Terrace in Helston, has been collecting books on local history.

Last week he picked up Return to St Nazaire in the Oxfam’s Meneage Street branch. The red-covered brochure details the daring raid on the French harbour in 1942 – when more than 600 men sailed from Falmouth in flotilla of three destroyers and 16 smaller boats, including the HMS Campbeltown that had been packed with explosives – and lists the heroic men who lost their lives in pursuit of freedom.

Even more fascinating, however, was the folded side of A4 paper, which contained a letter to a grieving relative of one of the men who made the ultimate sacrifice.

On St Nazaire Society headed paper and addressed to “Mrs Collier”, it reads: “Will you please accept this copy of the brochure, which has been prepared to commemorate the Return to St Nazaire in August 1947.

“From the time we returned to the spot where we fought, it has been the wish of the members of the [St Nazaire] Society that this brochure should be passed to each of the next-of-kin of our members who did not return, in memory of their supreme sacrifice.

“It is fitting, I think, that we send this brochure to you at this season of the year and we ask that you will accept it as a small token of the pride and comradeship we have for those who feel, and our lasting admiration for you who have borne that loss.”

The letter appears to be signed by Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Charles Newman VC, who was in charge of the military forces during the raid and ensured the operation was a success before being taken prisoner.

After carrying out some more research, Mr Abraham has discovered that the letter was written to a relative of Lieutenant Thomas Alexander Mackay Collier, who was aged 30 at the time of his death.

Lt Collier was with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves and is buried at the Les Moutiers-En-Retz communal cemetery in France, in grave one.

He had successfully manoeuvred his boat, ML457, into the basin – making it the only one of six boats scheduled to land commandoes to actually succeed – but later lost his life. He was awarded the single bronze oak leaf emblem to denote his mention in Despatches.

Mr Abraham is now keen to learn whether Lieutenant Collier was from the local area and look further into his history.

He is also eager for the brochure not to “end up languishing in a charity shop again,” adding: “What I’d like more than anything is for a local museum or somewhere like that to keep it, to make sure it is looked after. People like that should be remembered.”

Mr Abraham attended Sunday’s service in Falmouth to mark the 70th anniversary of the raid and was delighted when the brochure was signed by the remaining surviving veteran of the raid, Bill Bannister, and the town’s mayor Geoffrey Evans.