He discovered his father was a Canadian soldier — 81 years later

A family secret shrouded for 80 years in the fog of war. My grandmother, my mother, none of them said a word. Rod Anderson was born in Britain at the end of the Second World War. He grew up with his mother, but little did he know, across the ocean, a Canadian family spent years looking into a rumor that never went away. Some people heard it, some people were well aware of it, while others have never heard a whisper of it. That mystery about her grandfather, Charles Blakeney, a Canadian soldier who had a wife and a baby when he left to serve overseas. He was a driver and motor mechanic with the New Brunswick Rangers stationed in Britain during the Second World War. After the war, there were rumors that That my grandfather had a child with a woman in England. Bethany Allen's family always wondered if it was true and began searching in earnest in 2008. This is the entire file of my grandparents' divorce. This is the paragraph that makes it clear. They said Yvonne Anderson has given birth to a child of which the said Charles Lawrence Blakeney is the father. The moment that I saw it, I was so surprised It was so obvious, it was so definitive, turned all the rumors into facts. She confirmed there was a baby, but had no idea who it was. Bethany says before her mother died, she asked her to keep searching for her half-sibling. My mother had always wanted to know that he had a good life and was happy. Almost two decades later, Bethany, this year, finally had a breakthrough. I did an ancestry DNA test. Everything changed very quickly. That test pointed to Rod, her half-uncle. And I was like, oh my God, there he is. Oh my God, his name is Rodney. I love me. I love me. Bethany contacted Rod's daughter, Dawn, who called her dad with the news. And she said, I had a phone call from a lady in Canada who said that Uh, you're her long-lost relative. This doesn't wind up, it has to be, but it wasn't. You can't believe what a shock it is to get that knowledge. Rod had done a DNA test of his own years earlier, trying to track down the man he thought was his father. The one didn't link up, but this one does. Still, you can knock me down with a feather even today. Hello? Hello, sweetheart, how are you? I'm fine, how are you? I'm very well, thank you. Since the revelation, Rod connected with a half-sister in Ontario he never knew he had. Very nice to talk to you. She's Bethany's aunt. I can't believe that we've known each other for so little time, and yet we feel so comfortable with one another. Yes, Barb Lowe can't quite believe her luck. I couldn't believe how much you reminded me of Dad. Yeah, the same attitudes. His eyes, you've got the same ears. Yeah, I know you said... Elephant-like, you said. Yes. They talk now every week. It means the world. My sister had passed away. My half-sister had passed away. And I finally found Rod. He's everything. Barb's, I'll call you later. As remarkable as this story is, it's far from unique. Thousands of babies were born during the Second World War, where Canadian troops and Allied soldiers were stationed. A lot of stories didn't end happily. Children given up for adoption. Women blamed and shamed. Families torn apart. Why was this so secretive? It's secretive because there's an unbelievable amount of stigma attached to the situation. Eighty-plus years ago, this is something people would have seen as being profoundly shameful, that they didn't want to talk about. And the blame also fell disproportionately on women who were involved, rather than the men who were also part of this story. Now as families start to break their silence, modern DNA testing is allowing them to track down relatives and connect with them like never before. This picture here is my dad. They're amazed at how, despite Rod never knowing his late father, he takes after him. As a child, Rod lost his eye and his arm in a rail accident. He was told he could never do the job he ended up doing, a mechanic. Turns out, that's exactly what his Canadian dad did for a living. Coincidentally, his job was a heavy goods vehicle mechanic. Same as mine. That did surprise me. What were you like? I was always into mischief. Always? Always. So was I. These two siblings are just glad they were able to find each other before it was too late. Don't give up. You never know what the DNA can do. Very touching. It'll make a difference to my children and their children and their children's children. It will go on. For this family the mystery may not be over. The documents that helped find them Rod says there was another baby somewhere in Britain. There's still more mysteries to be had. There's still a search going on and now we have two sides of the Atlantic trying to solve that mystery. For now that mystery will have to wait. Rod's booked his ticket to Canada this summer, a chance to finally meet the extended family he almost never knew.