Of Lost Uncles...

I made a small breakthough in my family tree research today. Quite by chance, I stumbled upon the War Graves Commission site and decided to do a quick search on my surname. Almost immediately I found the details of a man who was buried in Gateshead East cemetary and had the same parents as my Grandfather - a missing Great Uncle! It appears that he was a gunner in 83 Squadron and his Hampden Bomber crashed over Lincolnshire while returning from a mission over the Ruhr area in Germany. It transpired that 15th May 1940 (the date of his death) was quite a significant date. The day before, the Germans had carpet bombed Rotterdam - the first time that civilians had been directly targetted; the British response was swift and marked the onset of the Battle Of Britain. Not quite as exciting careerwise was my Great Great Uncle James - a bricklayer. I think I've managed to track him down on the 1881 census - lodging in Birmingham (head of the house: a single woman of similar age...). Unfortunately I can't find any trace of him in 1891; so unless a fellow genealogist comes out of the woodwork on one of the many forums I inhabit, that may well be the end of his story too.