Have you ever wondered what Dr Graham’s Homes was like in years gone by?

This letter from 1944 – sent to us recently by the family of a World War II soldier – offers a fascinating answer.

It was written 80 years ago by Stephen Dick, a Scotsman who had been posted to Burma (now Myanmar) towards the end of the war. Having heard about the Homes from a friend, he decided to travel up to the Himalayas to visit the orphanage during a period of extended leave.

Stephen ended up living and helping out at the Homes for nearly a month. As his time drew to a close, he wrote a long letter home to his family telling them all about his stay and the people he’d come into contact with.

From a telegram mishap to wedding bagpipers, days out with the orphans and an impromptu visit from Father Christmas, it offers a vivid snapshot of the Homes as they were in the 1940s. Coming in the wake of Dr Graham’s then-recent death (he passed away in 1942), it also provides a window into how life at DGH was beginning to change after the loss of its founding father.