At least now I expect he thinks of me, even if not exactly warmly. I would have liked so much to meet him one time and for him to see me. I suppose for that to happen would have “rocked his boat.”
I really did not want anything from him at all.
I will always be grateful for all your time and effort in tracing him. I feel sad for you as well as for myself.
I wish you and Lloyd much success and hope you have more stories with happier endings than mine.
Thank you both for your kindness and bless you both.
Love, Pat K.
Devil’s Brigade
by Carol Anne Hobbs
My name is Carol Anne Hobbs. I contacted Project Roots in February 2002, in search of my Canadian father, Clarence William Thompson.
I was born October 6, 1943, as the result of my mother’s affair with my father, who was a Canadian soldier stationed near Croydon, Surrey, during the war. He was aware of my birth whilst serving in Italy. My mother found out he was married with children and never heard from him again.
I had been led to believe that he was killed in Italy during the war and therefore saw no reason to try to find him. During a conversation with my mother at the end of 2001, when I had mentioned how difficult it was not knowing what my father looked like or much about him, she said that she did not know for certain that he had been killed.
When I heard this, I decided to see if I could trace him. I wrote to the National Archives of Canada with his name and regiment, asking for information. At the same time, I wrote to Project Roots with my story. They put my story on the website and I waited!
I received a letter from National Archives at the beginning of April 2002, telling me he had died at Sherbrooke, Quebec, on January 13, 1995. That was all the information they could provide me with due to the Canadian Privacy Act. I was devastated to think he had died not that long ago, and thought there was no way I would be able to proceed any further. I informed Lloyd and Olga Rains, who told me to be patient . . . and I waited!
C.W. Thompson in a wartime photo. His English girlfriend didn’t know he was married with children in Canada.
On May 13, 2002, I received an e-mail from Olga and Lloyd saying, “We have found your Canadian family.” They had spoken to Lois, the wife of my half-brother Ralph, who said they were surprised but delighted with the news and would love to make contact.
I e-mailed them immediately and we frantically exchanged correspondence. They answered all my questions and sent me photographs of Dad when he was young and through all the stages of his life. I learned that I had five brothers and three sisters. Robert (Ralph’s twin) unfortunately is dead, as is Dad’s wife. My three half-sisters and two half-brothers did not receive the news so well and do not want any contact with me. That, of course, is their choice. I quickly built up a great connection with my newfound brother and sister-in-law, learning all about them and their family. We spoke on the telephone, which was really exciting, and my husband suggested we go visit them in Comox, on Vancouver Island.
We flew to British Columbia on October 7, 2002, stayed in Vancouver for two days and then set off to meet my brother Ralph and his wife Lois for the first time. We were due to meet with them in Nanaimo, where they had said they would pick us up. I was feeling so excited and nervous that I was almost sick. As we walked up the ferry stairs to start the crossing over to the Island I heard my name called. Ralph and Lois were there on the ferry!
It was a wonderful moment. Apparently, Ralph could not wait any longer to meet us. We had the most lovely visit with them for five days. We were introduced to their five children and friends, and then they took us off to see some of the Island. They were so welcoming and could not do enough for us. I have enclosed a photo.
I am so grateful to Project Roots for making all this possible. I could not have found these wonderful people without them. I am only sorry I did not get to meet my father, but our children and I have, at last, got to know our Canadian roots.
My heartfelt thanks to you all once again.
With a Deeper Meaning
by Ralph Thompson
Three years ago, on the eve of the first Remembrance Day since 9/11, my family participated in the candlelight service at the cenotaph in Comox, British Columbia. We were profoundly feeling the new meaning of what our veterans, including my dad, did for us during the war — to fight, kill and die for our freedom — and what our servicemen were presently doing. Before September 11, did we ever really understand what that freedom meant?
I have always been very proud of my dad’s service in the Canadian Forces and specifically in the Devil’s Brigade, First Special Services Force. It has been difficult to see the passing of so many of his comrades — and finally him, in January 1995.
On Mother’s Day 2002, I received a message on my answering machine from a lady in the Netherlands: “If you are the son of the late Clarence William Thompson, you have a sister in England who is looking for you.”
This was a surprise —to say the least — that was not received well by the majority of my siblings, though I was pleased with the discovery of this connection to my father. The next day the call was returned, and the lady, Olga Rains of Project Roots, told us more about Carol (my father’s English war child) and how to contact her.
Carol and her brother Ralph at their first meeting on the ferry to Vancouver Island, October, 2002.
The following day an e-mail arrived from my sister Carol; many e-mails and photos were exchanged, followed by emotional phone calls and then the physical contact on the Thursday of Thanksgiving weekend: October 10, 2002.
My wife, Lois, and I surprised Carol and her husband, Dave, on the B.C. ferry. We spent the next two hours getting acquainted and remarking on how she has such a Thompson resemblance. We spent the next five days looking at old photos, sharing information and then touring some of Vancouver Island.
A comfortable kinship developed very quickly with Carol as well as Dave. She is truly a delightful person, and I proudly call her my sister. Dave told me when I first talked to him on the phone that I had a wonderful sister. Turns out her husband is an amazingly devoted husband and a kind, caring person as well. They are a wonderful couple. My only regret of our uniting is that she never got to meet, touch or hug our dad.
The saying goes that there is always good that comes out of bad. The war and its awful carnage had a side that I had not thought about much, and that was male-female relationships. Out of those relationships, an estimated 30,000 babies with Canadian fathers were conceived, and my sister was one of them.
Many have never found their roots, and there is a wonderful service committed to helping people find their kin. It is the Project Roots website. It is an amazing website that is the reality of incomplete lives of people who simply wish to know their roots. Thirty thousand wonderful Canadian human beings are the byproduct of World War II.
It is my greatest hope that this letter will provide the avenue for at least one father and adult child to experience the meeting, touch and hug, as many have been unable to share that cherished moment due to the fact that many aging veterans have already passed on.