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Histories» Show All «Prev «1 ... 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 ... 161» Next» » Slide Show My Birth Fathers Family Finding my birth father and getting in touch with his family has been one of my life changing experiences and one which took place 59 years after I was born. Although I won't be writing specifically about any living relatives, I would like to explain how our meeting came about and the things I found out about my father which possibly made me who I am.
How strange is fete ? I knew my grandfather was William John Spence Anderson and that he had died at Tobruk after being taken POW during WW2. I also knew he was a baker and that he served with the Royal Army Service Corps. Over the next couple of years I discovered some amazing facts surrounding him and his death which led me to believe that in all probability his family may not know where he died or where his body lay. It was only after finding out the truth and knowing that someone was organising a memorial ceremony to be held at the spot that I decided I had to tell his story to his living relatives.
As far as is known, nobody was told of my existence even though the photo's my birth mother gave to me show they were seeing each other in July 1955 after my birth and adoption. It even transpires that my birth mother went up to Crieff for Hogmanay (believed to have been December 1954) and was taken around to meet the relatives and neighbours and introduced as (presumably) Bill's girlfriend. My birth mother even has a photo of one of his living sisters, although they can't remember the circumstances of how she came by it. Whether Bill told his wife about me is unknown. My decision to contact the family was especially rewarding when I learned that my father had two sisters still living and who were not aware of the circumstances of their father's death. A few months later in June 2013, one of my grandfather's daughters went to Italy with her daughter to take part in the memorial ceremony to commemorate her father and the hundreds of POW's who died in the friendly fire accident at Orvieto. It was heart warming to be told that she felt at last she had been able to grieve for her dad. My other aunt, who lives in Australia, had applied for her fathers war records some years ago but she said there was "no indication that he died on a bridge. Just missing presumed killed and no specific date. I had hoped for more answers to the life long wondering." » Show All «Prev «1 ... 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 ... 161» Next» » Slide Show | |||
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