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.
CALLING old classmates. Sid Anning of Rochester, Kent, is looking for school friends from Ramsgate in the 1950s. ‘We were then aged 11 and will be 80 next year. Although I’ve been friends with a number of them all my life, I’d be grateful if you could find any of the missing ones. We aim to hold a reunion next year. ‘Hereson Secondary School had a bad reputation compared to St George’s or Chatham House Grammar School, even though the headmaster Mr Marsh and his staff were disciplinarians. We had our fair share of hooligans! ‘I’m still in touch with my best friends, who include Derek Harris, Bob Pettman, Mike Tomlinson, David Hammond and John Ashford. ‘After leaving school I spent many years in the Navy; I later became self-employed, ran an old people’s home, a hotel and a fish and chip shop, living in the West Country. My final job was a cleaning business. Three years ago, I got remarried, to a lady I first met in 1964.’
THIS is turning out to be one heck of a success story. Over the past few months we have managed to reconnect David Laffar, 83, of Hertfordshire with some of his erstwhile footballing compadres — three of them, in fact.
In the 1950s and 1960s, they all played for Tavistock FC, a team that originated from the Mary Ward Youth Club in Euston, London. Some of the players went on make names for themselves in the game, such as Roy Sleap, who played for Barnet FC and was in the GB team at the 1960 Olympics. We’ve already updated you about how we reunited David with team-mate Mike Norton; then Benny Wing, who’d known David very well, got in touch. Now for the hat trick. John Richardson emails:
‘I played for this side until 1958, when I went into the Army. I would love to hear from David or any of the team.’
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.