Grandfather John O'Donnell - No Paper Trail for 50 Years!

[hols92]

Hi!
I am trying desperately to place my grandfather, John O'Donnell on paper in the Watford Area in Hertfordshire around 1949.

I know he was there as that was when my father was born.

I have him previously tracked until 1926 in the St Pancras Area in London with siblings also local.
I can then place him again in the late 1970's in Luton, Bedfordshire living with his brother 'Patrick' until he dies in 1980.
The same brother I can find in the UK 1939 register literally a few roads away from where I grew up and understand that my grandfather lived near by in and around 1949 but have no more info than that and cannot find him anywhere in the whole country in the 1939 census let alone Watford.
 
I cannot seem to account for my grandfather at all or at any point during the 'missing' 50 odd years and I would be so so grateful and appreciative of anyone being able to help me place him at any time through this period.

[KGarrad]

If he signed up early, he won't be on the 1939 National Register - members of the  Armed Forces weren't on there.

[hols92]

Thanks K!

Do you meet for WW2? As I don't believe he was signed up to fight in WW2, he was a soldier in WW1.

Would there be another reason, he's not on there?

[PaulineJ]

Plenty of men served in both World Wars.

No reason why he should be near "Patrick" in 1939 just because he joined hin in late 1970's.
Did you track patrick through (say) electoral rolls to see where & with whom he resided?

[josey]

Do you have a date of birth/birth certificate for him for him? Did he have a middle name? Who did he say his father was when he married your grandmother? He needn't have been in the area when your father was born only his mother needed to be!!

[KGarrad]

You didn't specify when he was born
The 1939 National Register simply wouldn't show members of the Armed Forces at that time the Register was compiled in 1939.

Other reasons?
Maybe he wasn't in England/Wales at the time?

If he wasn't on the Register, he wouldn't have had an ID Card or Ration Book.

[hols92]

Yes! Again I can't place Patrick either after 1939 until the late 1970's in Luton.

It isn't to say he was residing near or with Patrick, its just he has previously and does in later life so that was one of the avenues I was going down and plus the address that Patrick is living in with Wife Olive in the 1939 census is precisely in the area that I am looking to track down my grandfather in over the following 10 years.

I will defo check out the ww2 records though and see if he pops up.

Sorry of course, his DOB is 31st of May 1902
I don't have his birth certificate but like I say, I do have his Death cert.

This is the problem, my grandfather didn't marry my grandmother. but I do know that he was around at the time of the birth as she spoke of him coming round to see my father and bought with him, items from the black market.

Thanks so much for your interest and input thus far, if you need any more info I will give it gladly to help you help me !!

[josey]

Have you looked at passenger lists? Maybe he lived/worked abroad for a while?

[hols92]

No I haven't. I can't access them sadly as I do not have the funds to upgrade my subscritpion on ancestry etc.