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I'm looking for two half brothers born in or near London whose father was a Canadian soldier posted in England during WWII . The men would have the last name of Brown.

To little info I,m afraid .especially with that surname

How are they connected to you ?

Were they twins or two separate births

Were they,adopted ?

Can't family give some info ?

If they were half-brothers they had different mothers, and unless the soldier married both of them, their births were probably registered under the names of the mothers

I doubt he had time to marry twice................

I was reading it as they are two half brothers to Gail and their father was a Canadian soldier

It could be either............Gail will no doubt clarify at some stage

My interpretation was based on the fact that she didn't say 'my' half brothers, but that could be an oversight.

I'm clairifying the information. My father told me that during the second world war he met a woman while he was stationed in England and had two children by her. Two boys and he didn't tell me if they were twins or had on separate times. At the time I was only 21 and shocked because he was married ar the time to my mother. He wanted me to meet them on my trip to England. I Didnt but when he and my mom made a visit to London he quietly went of one evening to visit her.he had kept a connection to them all of those years. He was sent toEngland and was stationed from July 28 ,1943 and returned to Canada after 31 months and returned to civilian life on April 12 , 1946. In his military records he was stationed at B'field an abbreviation of the place written in and he said he was near London. These boys would have to have been born at least 9 months after he got there I would think and hopefully before he
Left! I have all my dad's military records but without knowing the mothers name I can't seem to look for them. So if anyone knows of anyone in the brown tree, whose father fit that bill please help me.my father , Walter Brown, has passed away and I wou like to honor his wish that I meet his sons.

If he didn't go with the mother to register the births, or sign a written declaration admitting paternity, they could not have been registered with his surname.

Did he tell you whether they were registered as Brown?

B'field could be Beaconsfield

Try looking for births using freebmd

Look in search all trees

I've had a look at this site just in case one of the boys had searched for your father's name but no listing in the "looking for fathers" section, it might however be worth you contacting them, if you haven't already?

http://www.canadianrootsuk.org/index.html

there are two male births in Eton registration district (covers Beaconsfield) with surname Brown and the same mother's surname (although spelt differently on the two records)

>> but I've ruled them out by a marriage in 1942

just in case anyone else spots them (mother's surname Mac*)

Thanks everyone,
I have no information on how to contact them as my father has passed and when I chose not to meet them many years ago he didn't share any more information. Sadly our family may never make that connection.

Gail, I know it's an obvious question, but have you been through any family photos your father might have kept, just in case there are any photos with a name on the reverse you don't recognise, which might be the boys?

United States Army Air Forces[edit]
During the Second World War High Wycombe was used by the United States Army Air Forces. It was the home of the 325th Reconnaissance Wing from 9 August 1944 though 20 October 1945. The VIII Bomber Command Headquarters was at RAF Daws Hill, on the other side of High Wycombe near the M40. RAF Daws Hill was decommissioned in August 2007.


He would probally be stationed here,,,,,,RAF High Wycombe Buckinghamshire,,,,,,also near by is Beaconsfield.

Have you tried Search Trees at the top to see if anyone has your father in their tree?

Rose

If we assume the mother was unmarried at the time of births, have you worked your way through births in Eton looking for boys born with the same mother's maiden name and surname, and 2 births.
(There is only one male Smith/Smith showing on free bmd, which is quite reassuring).

You will have to do it year-by-year as there are over 6000 births 1944 to 1946 - but systematic searching may throw something up (obvious use of a family name?)

As your Father made contact during his visit then he must have had letters etc for up-to-date information - when was his visit?

Have you looked for your father's name etc in search all trees?

Have you included him in your GR tree, so that anyone searching can make the connection?

We were staying at the savoy in London when he took a taxi and went to see her. We had no idea where he had gone and he wasn't gone all that long. About an hour.i think he kept everything through a lawyer and the lawyers refused to help

Did your father have a middle name?

Walter ? Brown.

just a tip that I was going to add yesterday but wasn't sure whether Eton was a good place to be looking ...

to search for possible births, you have a range from 9 months after your father arrived in England to 9 months after he left ... April 1944 (but allow for premature birth) to January 1947

so first quarter 1944 to first quarter 1947

there is a way to make the search a little more manageable


at freebmd, select Eton registration district

search for births with

surname A*
mother's surname A*
Mar quarter 1944 to Mar quarter 1947

that gives you a manageable set to look at

look for male births with matching surnames (e.g. Axelrod+Axelrod, not Anderson+Atkins)

I did this yesterday and I think I found two possible male A* + A* pairs
(not all Axelrod+Axelrod births will necessarily be to the same mother of course)

the B* + B* list was a little longer, and I imagine there are longer ones still

so with pen and paper for each letter of the alphabet, you make a list of the male X+X births, and then go through the list and strike off the ones that are singletons, and see who is left

A bit time-consuming but nothing at all in the overall scheme of things, and once you did this for each letter of the alphabet, this would give you the possible pairs of boys registered in their mothers' surnames in that district in the right period ... that's all it would do, but it would be a possible field of candidates to keep in mind.

you would also want to do a search for the same period with father's surname Brown, to identify any male pairs again, just in case they were registered in your dad's name

Thanks everyone for your assistance