AN American is trying to trace his Ipswich mother from thousands of miles away using sketchy memories and a scrap of material from her army uniform.Dallas resident David Winters is hoping the pages of the Evening Star will help settle a life-long quest for his Ipswich born mother.

AN American is trying to trace his Ipswich mother from thousands of miles away using sketchy memories and a scrap of material from her army uniform.

Dallas resident David Winters is hoping the pages of the Evening Star will help settle a life-long quest for his Ipswich born mother.

David was born in Ipswich Hospital on August 20, 1971.

His father, American serviceman Andrew Winters met his Suffolk mum Lindsay Margaret Wilson a year before, then aged 18, and serving in the RAF.

The young family spent a year at 216 Nacton Road, Ipswich.

But after less than a year of married life the couple divorced and Andrew Winters took his baby son to start a new life in the States.

Now grown up and with a baby son of his own, David Winters wants to find the mother he never knew.

He said: "My father had contact with some of my mother's family until the early 80's. Then they stopped writing. That was the last thing I was told.

"My father lives here in the states but has very little information he can give me. My son David Andrew Winters Jr was born here in the states and I would really love for my son to meet his grandmother and for me to see my mother again.

"This caused me many heart aches as a child and I am still having a heck of a time finding her. Which was why I turned to the Star. I had some pictures of my mother as a child but would have no idea what she looks like now."

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David's maternal grandparents were Doris and Alexander Wilson, a merchant seaman who retired to the West Country.

He also remembers a maternal aunt, Gillian O'Connor and her husband Ian O' Connor, who also served in the RAF.

And there's no shortage of derring-do in David's family tree.

He said: "Shortly after my parents split up, my mother joined the US navy around where she qualified as a jet mechanic and was stationed in Memphis. She refused American citizenship and returned to England and married an RAF pilot. The last memory of her was when she went back to England when I was five."

His departing mother gave her young son a scrap of material from her uniform as a keepsake.

He said: "I would love to get in contact with her again so she can meet her grandson."

If you recognise anyone in this story please contact the Star news desk on 01473 324788.