Lost in South Africa....Maybe

Chimp

Chimp

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Gladys Constance Kent was born in Bungay, Suffolk in 1895. At some point she married Johannes Jascobus Frederik Nel in Grootfontein, South Africa. They had a son Robert born there on 6th February 1932.

Johannes died on 20th December 1945 of influenza Bronch Pneumonia in Johannesburg. I have a copy of his death certificate from FamilySearch which names his wife and son.

He was a Lieutenant in the South African Air Force, number 47362

His ashes were scattered in the garden of remembrance in Johannesburg (Braamfontain) Crematorium Transvaal.

He is on the CWGC memorial :-

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/992279/j-j-f-nel/

Gladys was still living there in 1968 as family wrote to her to let her know that her brother in law had died.

Any help at all on what became of Gladys or Robert would be a great help.
 
Robert seems to be much travelled!

There is an arrival of a Robert NEL (dob 6th February 1932), who arrived in Liverpool from Montréal, Québec on 16th September 1957. The ship was the Empress of Britain on the Canadian Pacific line.

His address in the UK is listed as c/o Overseas Visitors Club, 3 Templeton Place, London SW5. He was intending to stay for 2 months, his job was that of an Engineer and his permanent place of residence is listed as South Africa.

I hope that this helps. :)
 
Yes it does, on his outward journey to Canada, also in 1957 he was a mechanic and single.
 
Ancestry has a fair number of journeys for Robert. I will list them out and post. :)
 
Apparently Robert wrote to family in Australia sometime in the 70's to say that Gladys had died, nothing was heard again. Don't know when she died though or what became of Robert.
 
From what I have found, it looks like Robert moved to Canada in the mid 1950s...
 
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