Mysterious English Address Found in Crèvecœur: Who is SK Sharp from March 1940?

A few years ago, a resident of Crèvecœur found on a wall an English address written in March 1940. Who is it? The mystery remains.

It is a piece of cob wall, protected by paper. It is so fragile that its owner treats it with great care.

“We found out twenty years ago when we went into the loft. It was in a maid’s room in this old farm.” explains the resident who, using a cutting tool, removed the piece of cob to better preserve it from the ravages of time.

On the wall of a maid’s room

Because it is not a simple piece of wall. A few words are actually written there in black ink: SK Sharp, 1′ Priory Avenue Higher Broughton, Salford 4 Lancashire England, 19 March 1940. Lancashire is a county in the North West of England and Salford is a town near Manchester .

Who was this Sharp? What was he doing in a maid’s room of almost 5 m2?

In March 1940, we were in the middle of the “phony war”.

A piece of our history

France and the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939, and Hitler had not yet invaded France. Two months later the terrible Battle of Dunkirk took place when the English army was evacuated.

After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the British Expeditionary Force was sent to the Franco-Belgian border.

Is this SK Sharp one of them? Had he come to rest for a few days in Crèvecœur or was he involved in another mission?

The mystery remains unsolved but on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Allied Victory, this address is written in capital letters as a small piece of our common history.