A man from Petersfield is trying to reunite the service documents of a naval officer to his relatives.

Nigel Wells, 84, from Petersfield, came in to possession of the service documents of Reginald Francis Dolphin when a London law firm, that he used to work for, shut down and he was in charge of disposing of the archived documentation.

He has had the service documents for approximately 20 years and has decided that now is the time to search properly for the officer’s family, rather than disposing of the historic pieces.

Nigel said: ‘I could just throw these documents away, but they must mean something to someone.

‘I got rid of 99.9 percent of the information from the law firm and this is the last bit that I have to get rid of.

‘Why service documents were in a lawyer firm in London, I have absolutely no idea.’

It is unknown why the law firm, Trump and Co, had Reginald’s service papers for, but Nigel is desperate to find his family to reunite them with it.

Reginald was enrolled in the Royal Navy in May 1926 and retired in April 1952, and it is believed that he lived in the Portsmouth area.

He started out as a boy seaman, but in the last 12 years of his Naval career, he became a senior officer, the highest ranking possible.

Any other information is unknown about the sailor and his family.

If anyone has any information, please contact Nigel Wells on 01730 266074.