MISSING . . . and FOUND!
THE DAILY MAIL offers readers a unique opportunity to re-establish contact with long-lost relatives and friends. Each week, MONICA PORTER features the story of someone trying to find a missing loved one, as well as a tale of people reunited. This column is produced in conjunction with the voluntary tracing service Searching For A Memory, run by Gill and John Whitley. ‘I Joined the Royal navy aged 16 in 1960,’ writes david Moore, ‘ and, having the name Moore, became known as “Pony Moore”, which stuck with me throughout my service.
‘I did basic training in the wooden huts at HMS Raleigh in Tor point , Cornwall, then signals training at HMS Mercury in Hampshire, before joining the frigate HMS Blackwood in Scotland.
‘Then I served on destroyers, before volunteering for submarines in 1963.
‘At the end of 1967, I was in HMS Forth [a submarine depot ship]. We sailed from Singapore to Mombasa in Kenya when British Forces were withdrawn from Aden in Yemen.
‘There was a large taskforce of British ships and we were deployed to support the submarines involved.
‘ I was a leading radio operator, part of the “spare crew” in case a replacement was required on any of the subs. My picture was taken at the Spare Crew Mess on HMS Forth at “tot time” (rum issue).
‘I’m standing in the middle, just in front of the notice board. The man issuing the rum is Leading Stoker Ferguson, but I can’t remember the names of the others. We had great times on that trip.
‘I left the navy in 1970 and was a police officer until 1996. I’m now 74 and retired, and would love to hear from any of the lads in the picture or any others I served with in the navy.’ In the summer, Christine Henderson, nee Fish, wrote on behalf of her 1958-61 intake at the northern Counties Training College of domestic Science and Cookery in Hexham, northumberland: ‘Along with Brenda, dorothy, Marianne, ethel and the rest of us former college friends who meet annually in Hexham, we’d love to find our missing classmate Kay Wilson.
‘She will now be 77 or 78 and we hope we’re not too late in our search to find her. We would love her to come to a reunion so we can catch up with her and share news and memories.
‘She was living in Seaham, County durham, where her parents had a grocer’s shop.
‘After Kay married and moved to Scotland, contact was lost. I taught cookery and home management in Middlesbrough, then married a farmer and moved to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Several of us married farmers, as they used to come to the college dances, perhaps presuming we’d make perfect wives! We’re now retired and live in Scarborough.’ our ace sleuth jeff Pinson helped track down a delighted Kay, who now lives in Xabia, Spain. She and husband George have a villa with a pool, three children and 11 grandchildren and enjoy a fun-filled retirement playing bridge and mahjong. Where did it all go wrong, eh?
IF there is someone you would like to trace, write to Gill Whitley, 1 Newbrook house, New hall Lane, Preston, Pr1 5Pe, enclosing an SAE, or send an email to monica.porter@dailymail. co.uk — including a contact phone number. All communications will be answered as soon as possible. this column is researched with the aid of Peopletracer (www.peopletracer.co.uk). A small donation will be requested for employing Gill Whitley’s services.