Please Note:
The Find Buddies section has a page for each decade. These are very long pages to search through - it can be useful to use your browser's FIND feature, usually initiated by pressing the ctrl-f keys on your keyboard.
Email addresses are modified to reduce "harvesting" by spammers. E.g. name(at)example.com is really name@example.com
HELP finding names
on this web site: If your search through this web site is unsuccessful, consider these:
Also consider writing to local newspapers - they often will publish letters from people searching for long-lost relatives and friends. In Suffolk the best newspaper to write to is: East Anglian Daily Times - web
site Finding birth registration certificates: Deben Register Office web site also has links to other Suffolk register offices.
Before you consider a parental search, please review the following advice from someone who has been closely involved in searches of this kind: BEGINNING While some speed may be called for in BEGINNING your search efforts, IF there is the slightest indication that your birth parent was NOT aware of your conception, then good sense calls for CAUTION during the approach to that person. (Not the searching for - the approach to the POSSIBLE parent, after "finding" him or her.) CAUTION The reasons should be obvious but I will relate some of them: The suspect person may NOT be your parent. They may have merely been one of the people whom your mother dated. They may have never even met your mother or may merely have a similar name to someone who did know her. Your bursting upon their lives with an unwarranted claim of relationship is unfair and could be both wrong and extremely disruptive to their lives in unknown ways. YOUR DUTY The requirement is on you (and it is a requirement) to prove that you are related to them . You MUST have your "why I am your son or daughter" evidence clearly set out and ready when you locate Mr. Right - or his (your) family. Your simple declaration will not be enough. ESSENTIAL DATA Write a synopsis of your life - as you know it to have occurred. And DO write it down, keep going over it with relatives, adoptive or real, adding all the detail that can possibly be added. Where you were born. Who your bio mother and father were, including everything you know or have been told about them. Include details like their and your eye color, height, body shape, etc.. Who were their parents and where were they from, etc? Who were your adopted parents? Where and how were you adopted - what agency - what papers do you have or are available? Whose names are on any papers. Are there any photos - with or without names? Where have you lived (details)? Where have you attended school and worked? How did you find out about: your adoption, bio mother, other relatives? Who told you, when and why? Where do all these people live now - where did they lived "then". If you have a spouse and or children who are part of your support, ask them to bombard you with questions and write down your answers. Don't worry if you draw tons of blanks - you are building a "structure" that will get you where you are going. AN ESSENTIAL QUESTION Write out what it is that you expect from this search - notice I did not say FIND, I said search. The only thing we will certainly do is SEARCH. What we find is yet to be known. You need to put your SEARCH expectations in writing. ONE APPROACH IN MAKING CONTACTS In the situation where there is doubt that the subject knows of your existence, or even where that may not be so, it is good tactics to investigate the situation prior to making any sort of declaration. One way of investigating is to be writing a book about the USAF units and men stationed in (UK, East Anglia, SUFFOLK, wherever) during a particular time period. Explain that you came across this person's name and wondered if they were that same airman. Then you shut up and listen. When they stop talking (and you are either writing like mad or recording), you have some easy questions ready to ask. Correct spelling of name? What was your rank and unit? What did you do while there? What did you do after you left? Tell me about your family . . . ? Tell me about any English people you may remember fondly . . ? What is your address so that I might send confirmation of my notes prior to any publication? Using this method permits you to make follow-up contact after you have confirmed that you have the right person. The truth is, when you have finished your efforts, you will have enough info to write an article or book about your search.
Note: PAMELA WINFIELD is president of TRACE (TRAnsatlantic Children's Enterprise), a non-profit group that helps the children of GIs find their fathers. She has several books published in the U.K. which are on social issues and she also lectures groups throughout the U.K. and Europe on several subjects, the most popular, "GI Brides and GI Babies". Pamela's latest book is
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