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. Charlotte CoCkroft’s tale harks back to the World War II years and the evacuation of children from london to escape the Blitz bombing campaign. Charlotte writes: ‘I would like to try to find a person on behalf of my mother, Mary Male (nee evans), who is 80 years old and lives in Berkshire. ‘When she was young her mother, my grandmother louise evans, took a child evacuee into her home to live with her family during the war. they lived in st albans, hertfordshire. ‘ the child’s name was Doreen rowles and she came from kentish town in North london. I think she had two brothers and her mother worked for the Women’s royal air force. ‘My mother is keen to see if she is still alive and to discover how she is doing. I hope that you can help. ‘My mother remembers her own mother selecting Doreen from a group of evacuee children outside their house. ‘she had a name tag around her neck and was crying a lot. her parents were rex and lou and her brothers were James and Ian. so Doreen joined the family, was particularly helpful and slept in a room with my mother. ‘Mum had a kitten called timmy, which she and Doreen dressed up in doll’s clothes and paraded around in a pram. ‘they also spent a lot of time playing in the garden. Doreen lived with them throughout the war. ‘ My picture shows my mother and Doreen in the garden aged six or seven. ‘fingers crossed Doreen or someone who knows her will get in touch!’ We raN an item last summer on sue James (nee lambert), who is planning a reunion for the women who began nurse training at the royal Victoria Infirmary (rVI), Newcastle upon tyne, in february 1966. sue says: ‘We are hosting the 50th anniversary celebrations in the rVI on July 16, 2016. ‘But tracing some of those we trained with is difficult due to the length of time that has elapsed and that we only have maiden names. I am hoping your readers may recognise the five of us in the photo. We are, from left, Jennifer Gill, Barbara hownam, me, ann emerson and sheila Donovan. I live in the West Midlands, but the others still live in Newcastle and we’ve all kept in touch. ‘things were very different in the nursing profession in those days. ‘We worked 48-hour weeks, doing split shifts as well as rotating night duties. More responsibility was given to trainee nurses then. We lived in the nurses’ home for the first year and were allowed one late pass a week, until 10pm. If you were late, you had to see matron. Despite the strictness we enjoyed being student nurses, and want to share memories with as many former colleagues as possible at the reunion.’ first to respond was rosie sayers: ‘I started my nurse training at the rVI in 1964, two years ahead of sue lambert, and left a year or two later, but others I trained with stayed on and will remember the five students in sue’s photo. Please pass my contact details to her.’ We also heard from Mary Maternaghan, who asked to be connected to sue and was keen to attend the reunion. 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.