Mum & her older brother Uncle Tom meeting up during her army service as a cook. Location and date unknown.
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
When I started my Q-Sig-AN (Signals Analysis) course in the RAF, I was informed of a saying attributed to Winston Churchill:
“The art of intelligence is finding out what you don’t know from what you do know”.
I utilised this principle in initiating my search to establish the identity of my biological father.
Having received the outline details of my DNA analysis, the things I did know were:
- My father came from the Devon area.
- I was born in early September 1947, meaning that I was conceived probably at the end of 1946.
- A detail I once recall hearing was that my father was in the military.
- My mother was in the army somewhere near an abbey. She was 21 years old when I was born.
- There were two second/third cousins identified as my nearest relatives on the Ancestry DNA return
I decided that my first course of action should be to research details of the relatives indicated by the Ancestry DNA results.
There was an immediate problem. Only one of the matched relatives – Tony Wood, an indicated third cousin – had a published family tree on the site. The other match – Derek Olver, an indicated second cousin – had no tree attached to his name. As expected, Tony’s tree was based in Devon.
I contacted Tony by private message on the Ancestry site, asking if he knew of a relative who perhaps served in the military at the end of the 1940s. He responded that he could not think of anyone but gave the good advice that I concentrate my search on matches within the Devon area, as his family came exclusively from the county. He also asked that I update him with any news I was able to find, wishing me good luck in my search.
I now had one solid piece of evidence with which to work. I knew from analysis experience that what I needed now was at least a second source against which to compare these results. I had already sent a message to Derek Olver asking for the same information. He did not reply.
After around three months without response from Derek, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I built up his family tree from scratch using the Ancestry search facilities. I felt quite guilty about undertaking this task, prying into his private family affairs. Perhaps there was a reason why he did not wish to have details out in the public view. Could it be because he was my biological father?
My first research showed that it was highly unlikely that Derek Olver was my father; he was too young. Nevertheless, as I slowly built up his tree (maintained by me as a private entry on my Ancestry website) the Devon connections came shining through. In this way, I was able to go back to locate four or five generations of the Olver family. Whilst going through this process, I was also able to link into other family trees discovered through this research.
When I thought that I had gone back far enough (into the late 1700s) with this research, I stopped for an analysis of the information I had uncovered to date. To this end, I made out a spreadsheet record of the discovered surnames, cross-referring them to the contents of other family trees by date and first names. From this exercise I identified the surnames of Gillard, Peperell, Mitchelmore, Putt and Jarvis being mentioned more than once, although there was no immediate common ancestor shown in both trees. I was once again at an apparent dead end.
Then I had a huge stroke of luck. My sister, who was interested in my research, informed that she had a copy of a Christmas menu which my mother had left behind. This showed where she had been stationed after the war; would I like to have it? A scan of the document is shown below:
At the top of the Menu page from the Brayton prisoner of war camp at Christmas 1946 is the signature J H Putt. The Putt name was one of those isolated from my previous research. Had I found my father at last?
The other side of the card shows the location to be Brayton, near Selby, Yorkshire. (Selby has an abbey dating back to the 11th Century). The camp has long since been turned into a farm and no trace remains of its former use. There is however an account on the internet from a German who was imprisoned there. His message (in German) states how kind the camp personnel were and how attractive was the surrounding area.
I now had one main task. To find out if this J H Putt was connected to the Putts uncovered by my research. To do this, I would need to find details of his army career.
My first research of his military service was undertaken on the paid-for Forces War Record site. From this source I was able to ascertain that J H Putt was a Warrant Officer 2nd Class in the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME) in 1946. The record also stated that service records post 1922 are still restricted and only held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). I could, however, apply to obtain copies of his service record from this source.
When I looked into how I could progress my search, I found out that service records are obtainable free of charge to any of a deceased veteran’s close family members. For researchers outside the family, however, it is first necessary to obtain a copy of the individual’s death certificate. This was then to be sent with the completed formal application form to the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow, plus a cheque to cover the administration fee of £30. I accomplished all these actions and sent off the documentation to Glasgow in February 2018.
After a wait of around six weeks, a heavy envelope dropped into my post box in April 2018. The received documentation gave outline details of J H Putt’s 26 years’ service in the Army. He had started as a private in the Somerset Light Infantry from 1924 until 1932, then was called up again in 1939 at the start of World War II to serve in the REME. He continued to extend his service term until discharge in 1957, having attained the rank of Company Sergeant Major (CSM).
Amongst the sheaves of paper was one entry when he was accepted for re-enlistment in 1947 to extend his service. The relevant section is copied below:
The important element here is the location where this document was signed in June 1947:
“Brayton Militia Camp. Selby, Yorks”.
I then took time to compare the two signatures I now had – the first from the menu and the one contained in this documentation. The similarities are unquestionable.
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