MISSING . . .
THE DAILY MAIL offers the 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 and a tale of people reunited. Produced in conjunction with the voluntary tracing service Searching For A Memory, run byy Gill Whitley. y
CAN former Army comrades be reunited? Basil Adams, 84, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, is looking for an old mate with whom he performed in the regimental band of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary’s Own) between 1955 and 1958. ‘His name was Dave, and from regimental association records I believe his surname was Clyne,’ says Basil. ‘We lost contact when I left the Army in 1958 and I’d very much like to renew our friendship.’ Basil started on civvy street as a teenage silver service waiter at a Felixstowe hotel. When it closed down, he joined the
Merchant Navy as an officers’ steward. At the age of 20, he switched to the Army to play brass in the regimental band stationed at Wolfenbuttel, then Neumunster in Germany. ‘I was good at organising and carrying out serving duties at functions so I was given this role, and Dave assisted me,’ says Basil. ‘My picture shows us after serving at the Balaclava dance in the Sergeants’ Mess at Neumunster. Dave was a keen photographer who used the dark room at the education centre beside our band block.’ After the Army, Basil went into the insurance business.