Siblings reunited as 60 years melts away
Published: July 4, 2007
AFTER nearly 60 years apart, they could be forgiven if they didn’t quite recognise each other.
The last time this brother and sister saw each other was 1949, just a few years after the end of World War Two.
But this week Bournemouth grandfather Colin Booker was re-united with his long lost sister Barbara after travelling up to Reading for the day.
Colin Booker, 86, a former Wireless Communications Corporal during the war, of Cromwell Road, Southbourne, said: “I was thrilled to bits and it was very exciting to see Barbara again.
“For a while we were just speechless but we soon got to know each other.
“I didn’t recognise her at first as it is very difficult going back over such a life span.
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“There’s a huge difference between a young lady in her late teens and someone who is in their late 70s.
“I never would have recognised her unless we had been introduced.
“The geographical distance between us makes it a little bit awkward but we are nevertheless eager to meet up again.”
The pair’s family was split in two more than half a century ago after Colin fell in love with a divorced woman after returning from Germany at the end of the war.
Back then such a relationship was seen as scandalous and after marrying his sweetheart, Rita, the pair moved to Alveston in Bristol, where he lost contact with his four brothers and three sisters.
Younger sister Barbara Whitlam, 78, a former accounts clerk, of Reading, said: “The last time I saw my brother was 60 years ago when I was about 20.
“It was very exciting seeing him again and we have a lot in common.
“I remember him playing the piano beautifully, all the old favourites, and he was very good at drawing.
“We will be keeping in touch a lot more now and I plan to come down to Bournemouth in September.”
The siblings got in contact after Colin’s daughter tried tracing relatives on an internet site in Barry, Wales, where the family originated from.
A cousin got in contact four years ago and also put Colin in contact with his 76-year-old brother Eric from Barry Island, who he met for the first time last summer.
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