A POSTCARD sent by Penarth man, Edward Lobb, from a Polish Prisoner of War camp in the First World War has been found by the granddaughter of its intended recipient 103 years after it was sent.

Catherine Foulkes' great grandparents, Jonathan and Kitty Meazey, organized food parcels for prisoners of war in Germany and Poland.

Now, a postcard which was sent by a prisoner who received one of their parcels has been purchased online by Catherine.

In 1917, Edward William Lobb sent a postcard to Jonathan Meazey confirming that he had received their parcel.

However, the postcard became “lost and abandoned somewhere”, according to Catherine, and never reached her great grandparents.

It was found by chance 103 years later by former Penarth resident, Vilis Paul Kuksa, who saw that it was advertised as part of a job lot on Ebay.

Vilis then contacted Catherine who placed a bid on the job lot and bought the postcard.

Edward Lobb was born in 1883 and grew up at 22 Dock Street, Cogan.

At the outbreak of war in 1914, Edward joined the Second King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, number 7412, and was sent to France.

After fighting in the Battle of Messines, which was a historic British defeat, Edward was captured by German forces alongside almost 400 soldiers from his regiment.

He was then interned at the Polish camp of Posen and remained a prisoner until the end of the war.

He is one of 46 Penarth prisoners researched by local historian, Bruce Wallace, who is searching for information on Edward’s relatives.

Edward married Martha Courtney and lived at 133 Plassey Street after the war. They had two children, Alexandra May, and William John.

Alexandra died in 2004 and William John Lobb died in 2001.

Catherine’s grandfather, Jonathan, was the chairman of the Penarth Christmas Parcels Fund which sent parcels to prisoners in Europe.

According to a newspaper report from the time, one prisoner said that he would not have survived without the parcels, which included food and essential clothing.

Catherine said: “I was amazed when I found the postcard. I felt a real sense of connection with the past – a sense of completeness.

“I would now like to show it to descendants of Edward Lobb.”

If you have information on relatives of Edward Lobb, contact Catherine at: Catherine_foulkes@me.com or Bruce at: Brucewallace.cowin@gmail.com.