MISSING . . . . . . AND FOUND
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 by Gill Whitley.
CAN these friends be reunited? Margaret ‘Madge’ Baines, 85, a widow living near Poole in Dorset, hopes to find Iris Isabel Hanson. In the late 1950s and early 1960s they shared a flat in Maida Vale, west London. ‘We’d both left home and moved to the capital for our jobs. I was working as a secretary in a literary agency, and Iris was mostly temping around town, doing various office jobs. ‘We got on very well, spending much of our spare time together. We went to the cinema and to see shows in the West End, took a picnic to Regent’s Park on Sundays or just stayed in, learning to cook for ourselves and playing our rock ’n’ roll records. We went on occasional dates with boyfriends, but there was nothing serious until I met my husband Charles, an accountant. We married in 1963. ‘She and I kept in touch for a while, but life got hectic after our son Teddy was born in 1966. When I next tried to contact Iris she’d disappeared! I’d love to find her again to relive our happy youth.’
AN OLD mate has been located. Welshman Eddie Roberts, 84, told us: ‘I’d love to know what happened to two pals with whom I did my National Service in 1956-57, first in 719 Signals Unit, RAF, at Mafraq in Jordan, then in 7 Signals Unit at Kormakiti in Cyprus. Robbie Parker was a radar operator from Chester; John Betteridge, an organisation clerk, was from Birmingham. ‘We met in Mafraq, but at the end of August 1956, around 25 of us, including John and Robbie, were sent to Cyprus to form the 7 Signals Unit.’ Excellent news! Christine and Robert Konieczny, close followers of this column, are good friends of Robbie’s and got in touch. They provided contact details for Robbie, a retired engineer still in the Chester area. Eddie reveals: ‘I’ve had a lovely chat with Robbie and the years melted away. We hope to meet soon.’
■ IF THERE is someone you’d 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 phone number. All communications answered as soon as possible. A small donation is requested for employing Gill Whitley’s services. this column is researched with the aid of 192.com.