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World War Two / Question about Coldstream Guards during WWII
« on: Wednesday 19 September 18 20:49 BST (UK) »
Hi. I am helping a friend to find information about her grandfather, who wasn't married to her English grandmother when she gave birth to a daughter a few months after the London Blitz. Family stories hold that he was a member of the Coldstream Guards.
Here's what she has been told by family members: He was Hungarian, talked with an accent, was much older than her grandmother (who was born in 1922), trained horses, was in London during the bombings, and was a member of the Coldstream Guards. When her grandmother became pregnant, the family refused to allow them to marry. They sent her and her child (my friend's mother) to live with relatives in America, although it isn't clear if this happened shortly after the birth or if it waited until the war was over.
We have located birth records that indicate the child was indeed born when and where indicated by family stories. Other than this, my friend isn't sure how much of the information she has been given is true. Was it even possible to be a Coldstream Guard if one was Hungarian? Does membership in the Coldstream Guards mean he would have had a British father? Been a naturalized citizen? I'm wondering if anyone with expertise in this area can see aspects of the story that might lend credibility to--or disprove--particular elements of it or that might suggest how we could proceed.
Here's what she has been told by family members: He was Hungarian, talked with an accent, was much older than her grandmother (who was born in 1922), trained horses, was in London during the bombings, and was a member of the Coldstream Guards. When her grandmother became pregnant, the family refused to allow them to marry. They sent her and her child (my friend's mother) to live with relatives in America, although it isn't clear if this happened shortly after the birth or if it waited until the war was over.
We have located birth records that indicate the child was indeed born when and where indicated by family stories. Other than this, my friend isn't sure how much of the information she has been given is true. Was it even possible to be a Coldstream Guard if one was Hungarian? Does membership in the Coldstream Guards mean he would have had a British father? Been a naturalized citizen? I'm wondering if anyone with expertise in this area can see aspects of the story that might lend credibility to--or disprove--particular elements of it or that might suggest how we could proceed.