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.
TWO former bandmates are planning to catch up. ‘I was a member of the Redman Set pop and rock band during the 1970s and 1980s,’ wrote Phil Thorne, 72, of Portsmouth. ‘We played at working men’s clubs, Goodwood House and Arundel Castle. This photo was taken at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth in 1974.
‘From left to right, it’s me on guitar, John Pugh on trumpet, Mike Free on drums, band leader Red Cresdee on tenor sax, Chaz Langmead on vocals and Graham Cresdee on bass. Mike and Chaz left in the 1970s and the final line-up included drummer Tony Ransley. After a season at Butlin’s in Bognor
CAN two nursing friends be reunited after 50 years?
‘When I started at London’s Royal Free Hospital in 1967, I became friends with Mitra Afzali,’ writes Sara Alcraft, nee Burrell, of Melton Mowbray, Leics.
‘She had come from Iran to do her training and we flat-shared, first in Belsize Park and then in West Hampstead.
‘Her parents would send food parcels, including pistachios, which I tasted for the first time. She had a sister, Mina, who lived in Salcombe, Devon.
‘I left nursing in 1969 and worked as a hospital medical secretary. With my fiance, Mitra
Regis in 1983, the band broke up.’ Researcher Jeff Pinson gave Phil possible addresses and another nursing friend, I celebrated my 21st birthday at the Talk of the Town — Kathy Kirby performed that night.
‘Mitra got her exam results while I was on my honeymoon in March 1970. She wed soon after me, but I don’t remember her married surname.
‘She and her husband went to live in Konstanz, Germany. I last saw her in 1973 when I stayed with them. We both had babies — her daughter was a month younger than my son.
‘Sadly, we lost contact. I am 74 and Mitra would be a couple of years younger. I’d dearly love to know how she is.’ for Graham Cresdee. He wrote to them all and says: ‘Success! We will be meeting up soon.’