Traced After 60 Years

My story has traveled 60 years and has started again in June 2004 60 years after D.Day. When I decided to trace the De Coninck family whose letters were sent to my mother in England. When my father’s regiment, the Green Howards, were camping in a meadow in Aalst.
My father landed on D.Day and was injured and sent back to England in a hospital in Wales. He was then sent back to join his regiment in Aalst, the next my family heard was from the war office to say my father had been killed in action whilst on the bridgehead on the Albert Canal.

I knew about Mr and Mrs De Coninck because they sent Christmas cards to my mother and I but I never knew about the letters; I was never told about them. So that’s as much as I really knew from when I was little.

When I met my husband in 1956, he asked about my father and I explained that he was killed in the war. He asked me where he was buried and I said Belgium, Geel war cemetery. In 1958 we both went over to visit his grave for the first time. On arriving back to England my mother, grandmother and my aunts were absolutely thrilled by the photographs and the fact that we’d been over.

Since then we’ve been married had the children and four grandchildren, and my grandchildren are learning about World War 2. Katie said, “Did it seem funny not having a daddy?” But it didn’t really in those times because lots of people had lost their fathers. I explained to the grandchildren about living in a shelter, all the black beetles were horrible but uncle Bill’s jar of sweets really helped. My mum was on fire duty and my aunt took me to the shelter entrance and used to show me the Doodle-Bugs going over. I can’t ever remember being scared.

My one and only memory of my father was being held in the Eiderdown wrapped round me, and daddy saying, “see those big barrage balloons? (which were over Hackney marshes in London) they will keep you safe until I come back. Be a good girl for mummy and I love you.”

It was when my mother died, on September 11th 2001 that my daughter Karen and I were sifting through mum’s effects. I said to Karen, “Letters, documents, bills, put them all in this case. I’ll go through them when I’m on my own.” Well I did, quite a while after the funeral and was amazed to find letters from Mr and Mrs De Coninck, and at that time Dave and I decided we would try and find them. This year being 60 years to D.Day, I felt this was my last chance to find them before next year because it would be 60 years from the end of the war. I asked my uncle to get on his computer to find the Belgium embassy in Belgium, but he couldn’t. He tried to find Aalst but only information was about the mayor’s house. Next morning he rang me, “Guess what? I have got you the Belgium embassy in London times and telephone number. Right Maureen, it’s up to you do your best.” And I did.
I rang the Belgium Embassy and explained that I needed to find someone in Belgium that I’d never met or heard of for over 60 years. I gave them the names, addresses from my 60-year old letters, and they rang me back a few days later. The De Conincks no longer lived there. Of course I was upset. The people at the embassy were marvelous and asked me what I wanted to be done. We agreed the parents might have died and she said did I have Benoit’s date of birth. I said no, but would go through the letters and ring back the next day. In the letter I found that Benoit was born December 1st 1933, and left everything for the embassy to get in touch with me. 10 days later a letter arrived from the embassy, they had found Benoit.
“I am pleased to inform you I have traced his address. However, according to the Date Protection Act I am not allowed to pass on this information. Nevertheless, if you wish to do so you could send me a letter for his attention, which I will be happy to forward to him.”
After the shock and tears of receiving the letter I set to and put together a letter to someone I’d never even met. Two weeks later I received a letter from Benoit plus a photograph which on the back said, “from the little boy from 1945”. He’s quite grown up now, he’s 71. He remembered about my dad, he was with him and Ron Concannon all day the short period they were camping. He said my dad was a very nice person and was always laughing, he gave us a salute and said, “for king and country”. He was very proud to be a Green Howard. He also said “on one morning the meadow was empty, the company had been called away to the Albert Canal; the rest you know, he really didn’t deserve it. He told us about his lovely daughter, he was a very proud man and a warm friend to everyone. Now: do you remember the Sheaffer pen you sent me? I still have the pen. Believe me or not, I read the letter a few times and tears came to my eyes; not that it made me sad I couldn’t help it.
He wanted to see the letters his mother wrote to mine and do come and visit me. I’ve written once more to him but we seem to chat on the phone, and Dave and I are expecting to visit him in November. I really can’t believe it.

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