19 February 2023 , 17:13
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Two brothers who knew nothing of each other’s existence were finally brought together in their 80s.
Allen Swinbank, 87, got a call out of the blue earlier this year saying: “I think my grandad is related to you.”
It was his half-brother John’s granddaughter Natasha, who had been researching her family history.
The men’s father John Spence-Swinbank left Allen’s mother when Allen was just six months. Allen, of Goole, East Yorks, said: “We didn’t talk about my dad because my mum hated him.
“He then turned up at my door when I was 26. I did learn a bit about him but he never mentioned I had a brother.”
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John, 85, was raised in Bridlington, East Yorks, by his grandad and aunts.
The brothers' dad John, who was captured in Dunkirk (Glen Minikin)They told him his father died in the war but in fact he died in 1980 aged 68.
Captured at Dunkirk, he spent five years as a prisoner of war and later worked as a bus driver. John moved back in with his mum and baby half-sister aged 10 after his grandad died.
At 36 he moved to Scotland to work as an agricultural engineer and had children with wife Jenny, 76. After Natasha connected them, John travelled from his home in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, to see Allen. They are both great-grandads and love motorbikes.
Their dad John died in 1980 aged 68 (Glen Minikin)Allen said: “We hugged and there were a few tears. It’s funny this has happened... in the past few years I’ve started wishing I have a brother or sister to share things with.”
John said: “A neighbour of Allen’s asked me if I was his brother, she said: ‘I thought you were, you look like him’. That was a great feeling.” A delighted Allen added: “We have a lot of catching up to do.
“This is a dream come true.”