Products of war

IMAGINE growing up knowing you are different to your classmates but not fully understanding why.

Or being asked by your doctor if there is a history of a particular illness in your family and not being able to provide him with a thorough answer.

Imagine knowing somewhere out there your father, who may not even know you exist, may be alive and well enjoying his retirement somewhere Stateside.

For thousands of people up and down Britain, this is the reality they have faced every day of their lives since the end of the Second World War.

They are "GI Babies" - children of American servicemen based on these shores and across Europe during the war but who returned home either completely ignorant to, or unable to do anything about the fact they now had sons or daughters.

GI stands for Government Issue, originally used to describe regulation equipment that became the generic phrase for common soldiers during the war.

And by June 1944, some 1.5 million US troops, men and women, were reportedly stationed in Britain alone.

Thousands of them, because of the town's close proximity to the coast, were based at camps in and around Southampton.

Their reputations, whether rightly or wrongly, went before them.

Estimates suggest as many as 100,000 of their children were left behind.

However, on the 60th anniversary of peace in Europe, a Southampton woman is helping lead the charge to reunite as many GI babies with their fathers as possible.

And Pauline Natividad, through support group Transatlantic Children's Enterprise (TRACE), thinks now is the perfect time for anyone who has always wondered about their fathers to find the answers they have spent years looking for.

"People will be celebrating and having big parties to celebrate the end of the war," says Pauline, "But there's a core of the population out there who are still wondering, don't know and don't think it's possible to find their fathers. We want to bring to their attention that it can be done."

Pauline should know.

She was just a month short of her 44th birthday when, after years of wondering and looking for the tiniest of clues, she tracked down her father Pilar in El Paso in Texas in November 1988.

Within a month, she was by his side and the pair have remained close.

Pauline recalls vividly the first time the pair spoke on the phone on Thanksgiving Day and the combination of excitement and apprehension she felt as she knew she was about to say hello. When she first set eyes on him at the airport, she admits she just grabbed him.

Pilar, or Paul as he was known during his time as an Army medic at Winchester, has twice revisited the city where he romanced Pauline's late mother Pat six decades ago.

And Pauline, who also found a half-brother and sister as a result of tracking down Pilar, has made El Paso her second home, visiting Texas as recently as last month.

It is largely the fact she has found such happiness and peace that inspires Pauline, 60, to want to help others do the same.

"I first learned about TRACE when I was coming towards the end of my search.

"I was just so encouraged to know there were other people like me. I was quite surprised and nave to it because it turns out there are hundreds and hundreds of us in Britain alone."

TRACE was founded in 1986 by Surbiton woman Pamela Winfield - a GI bride - who was awarded an MBE in 2004 for her work reuniting GI babies with their dads.

Pamela sadly lost a long battle against cancer last October.

But because of the success TRACE enjoyed under Pamela's stewardship, there has been no shortage of volunteers willing to continue her legacy.

Pauline, who lives in Sholing, is responsible for organising TRACE get-togethers where those looking for clues about their fathers' whereabouts or tracing techniques can share information.

She staged the first TRACE social at Southampton CityBus, where she was working at the time, over ten years ago.

And now many of the events attract in excess of 100 people all looking for, or having found, the same thing.

"Most people find it so easy to just start chatting with people they've never met in their lives or spoken with because they all identify with each other. Suddenly the whole room's just buzzing and names and addresses are being exchanged.

"We have all these links but the best thing for me is being able to share your thoughts and feelings with people who fully understand where you're coming from."

Pauline knows she is one of the lucky ones in that she had a happy ending.

For every good news story to come out of TRACE there are still many people who never find what Pauline has been fortunate enough to.

Angie Parsons, also from Southampton, is one GI baby who is still looking.

Now 59, Angie has never come close to finding her dad

For more details about TRACE visit http://freespace.virgin.net/j.munro/trace.htm - contact Norma Jean Clarke-McCloud, TRACE Membership Secretary, Heron's Flight, 1H Bycullah Road, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 8EE or e-mail trace.info@virgin.net