Wartime teddy for auction after ending up in house in Cornwall

The bear – named Blitzy – was bought to provide cuddles for Mary Gaskell, who was only five years old when the conflict broke out in 1939.

Frightened Mary would hold Blitzy tight whenever the air-raid sirens sounded and the street of her childhood home in Davyhulme, Manchester, was plunged into blackout as the Nazis attacked.

She later moved to Newquay, where the sentimental stuffed toy was discovered decades later by Mary’s sister-in-law, who was clearing her brother Ian and Mary’s former house in the town following Ian's death.

Mary, his wife of 17 years, had passed away 18 months earlier at the age of 74.

However, Blitzy ended up getting forgotten about again, until Mary's son Jon McCue found the bear in his loft during a recent house move.

It was found alongside a poignant note reading: "My mother is Mary Gaskell" and "We cuddled through the Blitz".

The note left with Blitzy the bear Picture: Hansons Auctioneers / SWNS

Blitzy has survived the war, narrowly avoided being thrown in a skip and given to a charity shop as well as numerous house moves.

The tatty wartime ted, who comes with an injured arm and wonky eye, is now expected to fetch between £600 and £800 when it goes under the hammer on July 23.

Steve Fulford, toy valuer at Hansons Auctioneers, which is handling the sale, said: “He’s got a face packed with a character, a couple of war wounds maybe, and his tummy squeak has given up the ghost, but he’s super special with a wonderful back story.

"Back in the 1930s he would have cost the equivalent of a week’s wages.

“Mary was very lucky to own a bear of that quality and size at that time. Children hardly had any toys in the 30s.

"No wonder she treasured him all her life. Teddies have that effect on people. I still have mine.

"Blitzy was found with a note which read, ‘My mother is Mary Gaskell’ and ‘We cuddled through the Blitz’.

"After surviving the Blitz, the skip, the charity shop and numerous house moves, he deserves a new chance of happiness.

"I hope we can find him the perfect new owner.”

It was sister-in-law Jackie Carey, 84, who lived in the same road as Mary during the war, who had written the note when she found Blitzy tucked away in the cupboard in Newquay in 2009.

Blitzy with Mary's sister-in-law Jackie Carey Picture: Hansons Auctioneers / SWNS

Jackie, a retired teacher from Flixton, Manchester, said: “Blitzy very nearly ended up in a skip or at the charity shop.

“There was so much stuff to clear, we had to have a skip. But when I found him, knowing how special he was to Mary, I wrote the notes explaining who he was.

“I also added the green bow to his neck. Mary was a beautiful young woman with a mass of auburn hair and perfect figure.

"She used to wear a green dress that was just that colour. She looked so lovely in it I chose the ribbon as a personal reminder of her.

"It was a very frightening time for us. The Manchester Blitz started in 1941 and there was some very heavy bombing.

"The noise of the air-raid sirens was horrible. Mary and I lived near the Manchester Ship Canal, which was a strategic infrastructure during the war so a prime target.

“I remember standing on top of an air raid bunker one day and seeing Manchester in flames.

“Mary was four years older than me and witnessed it all. She was from an ordinary working-class family, one of two children, and lived in a 1930s semi, a new build at the time.

"Her mother bought her the teddy, perhaps just before the war because times got really tough in the 1940s.

Mary Gaskell in her younger days Picture: Hansons Auctioneers / SWNS

“Mary met my brother Ian when she was 16 and he was 17. They fell in love but, for one reason or another, split up. They met again by chance when they were both single and in their 50s. Mary sent her condolences after my father died and Ian replied. Their love was rekindled. It was like a Mills and Boon romance.

“Blitzy is a wonderful reminder of our childhoods and family connections. Jon calls me ma two."

"Mary was a very special friend with a claim to fame, too. She used to work as a vacuum demonstrator with Les Dawson.

"Before he found fame as a comedian, he sold vacuum cleaners."

Mary's son Jon, 54, owner of company Sustainable Seas, said: “During the Newquay house clearance, it was so difficult getting everything sorted out, Blitzy’s discovery went over my head.

"But luckily, he survived again – and didn’t end up in the skip. I’d completely forgotten about him until I cleared my loft a few weeks ago. I found him in a plastic bag.

“After decades spent in cupboards and attics, I thought it was about time he came back out into the world.

"It would be lovely to see him cuddled again by a new owner, or taking pride of place in a museum alongside my mother’s story.

"Blitzy is a reminder of what children had to endure during the Second World War in Manchester."