A Lancaster University student, keen to find out about a special collection held by the University’s Library, got a big surprise when it turned out the memorabilia had been amassed by his grandfather.

Tom Patten, a third year History and Politics student, was keen to know more about the collection bearing his surname.

Previously very little was known about the history of the Patten Collection, apart from it was donated by a ‘Mr Patten of Penwortham’.

On delving further it transpired that Tom is the grandson of the late Peter Patten and until then he did not know the Library held his grandfather’s collection.

Said Tom: “I discovered the collection through my WW2 module at University, not realising that the collection was my grandfather’s.

“It was only when my dad asked me if I had heard of the Patten Collection that we made the connection.

“My grandfather passed away when I was young and never really got to know him so seeing the work he did with this collection brought me closer to him and my family’s past.”

The family came to see the collection and Peter’s son, Jim, agreed to take part in an interview to talk about his father and the collection.

The podcast, available on the Lancaster University Library Special Collections platform is launched here today.

And, as part of events, to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Lancaster University Library will present the Patten Second World War Collection, an exhibition of wartime memorabilia, from ration books to propaganda leaflets, held by the Library’s Special Collections and Archives.

Peter Patten (1928-2005), built the collection of more than 1000 leaflets, booklets and other paper items, published in the Second World War era and donated to Lancaster University in the late 1980s.

The collection consists of materials covering a broad range of topics, a large proportion of which were published or sanctioned by the British Government.

These include ration books, leaflets providing information about cooking and preserving food on a wartime diet, and air raid precaution booklets that provided advice to British citizens on how to protect themselves against bombing raids and gas attacks.

Other documents in the collection relate to military organisations including the Royal Air Force, British Army, Navy, Fire Service and Home Guard.

There are several propaganda documents about the German, Soviets and other nations’ military organisations and a small number of books written in the German language.

Theatre programmes, comedy and music publications reflect people’s social and leisure interests, whilst political papers show their differing responses to the war effort and hopes for the future.

Many documents within the collection would not have been considered appropriate for retention by official organisations at the time.

Their preservation through Peter’s efforts has secured a valuable insight into the lives of ordinary British citizens and the administrative work of British Government Departments during the Second World War.

Peter, who lived in Penwortham near Preston, was not old enough to serve in the War but was fascinated with that era and spent many years buying and collection publications from that period.

The exhibition was developed by MA student Janet Stewart during a placement from the History Department earlier this year in our Special Collections and Archives.

“Knowing more about how Peter Patten gathered his collection adds vital historical context for our researchers,” says Special Collections and Archives Manage, Katie Waring.

“It is especially pertinent that the discovery happened this year just as we were starting to plan activities to mark the 80^th anniversary of the end of the War.”

The display, staged in the Special Collections and Archives exhibition area (on A Floor in the Library), will run until the end of June.

Further information on the collection can be found in the Patten Second World War Collection Libguide.