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Hi all,
For many years now I have been trying to help my father find his biological father. He was adopted at 18 months by his stepfather, and the only information we have about his biological father is from the birth certificate which states his name Jack Ratchford, his army number and that he was a British soldier. He was serving in Malacca, Malaysia (where my grandmother is from) in the early 60s. My grandmother says he was from Yorkshire.
We recently did a Family Finder test and disappointingly received no matches with anyone of the name Ratchford (my grandmother insists this was his name). Additionally, because all British war records after 1919 are still confidential, I cannot search these to find any clues via his army number. So once again I'm at a dead end.
My next thought is to do a Y-DNA test to look more closely at his father's line. I would appreciate any advice you could give me about what my best chances might be, both with DNA tests, and with searching from someone from this time with so little information. Naturally, should he still be alive, we don't want to disturb him. Just a photo and some indication of who he was would feed this lifelong curiosity...
Thank you in advance!
For many years now I have been trying to help my father find his biological father. He was adopted at 18 months by his stepfather, and the only information we have about his biological father is from the birth certificate which states his name Jack Ratchford, his army number and that he was a British soldier. He was serving in Malacca, Malaysia (where my grandmother is from) in the early 60s. My grandmother says he was from Yorkshire.
We recently did a Family Finder test and disappointingly received no matches with anyone of the name Ratchford (my grandmother insists this was his name). Additionally, because all British war records after 1919 are still confidential, I cannot search these to find any clues via his army number. So once again I'm at a dead end.
My next thought is to do a Y-DNA test to look more closely at his father's line. I would appreciate any advice you could give me about what my best chances might be, both with DNA tests, and with searching from someone from this time with so little information. Naturally, should he still be alive, we don't want to disturb him. Just a photo and some indication of who he was would feed this lifelong curiosity...
Thank you in advance!
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