Couple discover fascinating graffiti from World War II while stripping wallpaper in their new home

PATRIOTIC graffiti dating back to the Second World War, declaring “we will win”, has been discovered hidden under layers of wallpaper.

A couple renovating their home in Wales were stunned at the historic etching on a wall, dating back to May, 1940 – the same month that Winston Churchill gave Bomber Command permission to bomb Berlin.

First-time buyers Mel Davies and Rob Jones were stripping wallpaper in their recently-bought property in Skewen, Neath Port Talbot, when they noticed the inscriptions, reports Wales Online.

The wording on the wall reads: “Germans now at Boulogne. This country ready for any invasion. We are going through a very bad time.

“But we will win.”

On the night of May 22, 1940, a battle broke out in Boulogne, where troops – including the Irish and Welsh Guards – formed a six-mile-long defence.

The wartime inscription sits alongside several signatures, including one that says the person is “16 years”, and also states: “Alford & Sons, Neath, May 27^th 1940”.

It also talks about Russia sending the first man into space (1961), and makes reference to the creation of a European common market, and, in more recent update, says that “Alford & Sons are now redecorating this room…1962”.

“PRESERVE GRAFFITI”

Ms Davies told Wales Online: “The previous owner was quite a lot older and there was wallpaper in every room.”

While stripping layers of paper near the door in the living room they found the writing, but “didn’t think anything of it at first until closer inspection”.

The couple are unsure what to do with the historic reference, as “everybody says to preserve it”, added Ms Davies.

The writing was completed days after the British government launched the Local Defence Volunteers – later known as the Home Guard.

And on May 26, 1940, Allied troops were trapped at Dunkirk. Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of about 350,000 British, French and Belgian troops was carried out, ending on June 4 – in a major boost to British morale – involving about 700 vessels crewed by civilians.

Two years after the “graffiti” was etched on the home’s wall, an American fighter plane, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, crashed onto a beach in North Wales in September 1942.

The aircraft became known as the Maid of Harlech, as a nod to the 13^th century Welsh castle by the same name.

It was discovered in July 2007, free of corrosion, after being buried for 65 years under sand.