I am trying to figure out why Some Mother's Son's name has not come to me yet. It's been twenty months now since I wrote his appeal, and eighteen months since my first talk about him. Yes, names have appeared, and I am still working on Tommy's story. Tommy's name appeared eleven months ago. I still feel that Some Mother's Son's name will appear. The stars cannot be aligned yet though, the circumstances not fully correct. So I figure I need to be more focused.
In the past twenty months I have tried to spread Some Mother's Son's story, hoping that a relative, friend or shipmate might recognise the details, and the mystery would be solved. But that hasn't happened yet, and maybe I need to rely less on chance, and potentially be more proactive myself. So I am trying to find any records that might exist of where merchant navy seamen might have stayed in the Plymouth area, and where names were written down. If I can do this, then maybe there is a chance of joining some dots together.
I have started to write some e mails. There were a lot of boarding houses in the Plymouth area in the 1970's/1980's. People stayed at The Navy Inn, The Three Crowns, The Maritime Inn for starters. There were B and B's, hotels, and charitable organisations offering board and lodging. I'll see where this line of enquiry leads.
On Wednesday, Tommy's sister Helen and I, met with one of Adam Dance MP's caseworkers, in their Yeovil office. Adam Dance is the Liberal MP for Yeovil, where Helen lives, and where Tommy was born in 1956. It was a good meeting. In short, we asked for help in changing the minds of Hampshire Police. At the moment they will not test the partial skull we have for dna. The testing process is relatively simple, (Cellmark Forensics can do it), relatively cheap, (£600-£2000), and takes a relatively short period of time to do, (three weeks). Their reason for refusal is that it is too speculative to think that it could belong to Tommy. It's been 51 years since Tommy went overboard, so of course, yes, it's speculative. But on the plus side, it was found about forty five miles away from where Tommy reportedly went overboard, about nine years after he went overboard, and a forensic oceanographer said that "it was entirely plausible that it could have ended up where it did, knowing the currents in that area".
Tommy's family know that it's a one in a million chance, but it's the first time in fifty one years that anything at all has come up that might help them find out where Tommy may have ended up after he went overboard. Adam Dance's caseworker hopes that they will write a letter to Hampshire Police, endorsing our request to test the skull. It's an easy process, and we can raise the funds ourselves should the police give this as one reason for not doing it. I'll keep you updated with the progress on this part of Tommy's ongoing story.
Helen had a second request for Adam Dance. In 2007, at Helen's request, Hampshire Police looked through the statements that were made at Tommy's enquiry, which was held two weeks after he disappeared in 1975. When they returned the statements a few weeks later, Helen realised that they had not returned one of the papers.
During Tommy's ten day cruise on the Northern Star he wrote a note to his parents. It had a Portuguese stamp on it. The cruise was from Southampton to the Canaries and back, either stopping in Lisbon on the way out, or perhaps Madeira on the way back, both Portuguese venues. Tommy had a real tough time on this trip, and since November last year I have managed to find out quite alot about life on the Northern Star, and subsequently, about some of Tommy's dilemmas during that ten day period. Because we have managed to find out these things ourselves, it's one reason why Helen is only asking for the skull to be tested, and not for a full investigation into Tommy's disappearance, which Hampshire Police have declined to do anyway. For the time being we have found out enough by ourselves, needing no extra help from the police.
For sentimental reasons, and for comfort, she would very much like to have Tommy's note back in her possession, and if Hampshire Police still have it, then a return would be very welcome by Tommy's family. I enclose the original newspaper article below which shows Tommy's note.
Having put our request over to Adam Dance, it feels like we can step back for a week or two whilst hopefully Tommy's story recirculates around Hampshire Police, through political corridors, and past anyone else involved in the potential letter being written. It's out of our hands for the time being, which actually feels quite freeing, and hopeful.
And for Some Mother's Son, I feel like I need to take some control of his story, and not rely on chance so much. At my talk in August, one lady did say, "had I tried to find any accommodation details for back in 1978". And yes, I have made a few enquiries, but I haven't tried hard. I'll focus on it. Let's see where it takes me.
And Tommy's note, shown top left of the article. It reads, "Dear Parents. SOS. Please be in Southampton on 15/06/75. Love Tom". (Tommy reportedly went overboard on the 14th. The ship docked in Southampton on the 15th. Tommy's parents received his note several days later, after the 15th).