I have discovered that I have been pursuing a false trail for the last year. I was trying to find out something of the fortunes of two of my grandfather's brothers, Walter and Joseph THOMSON/THOMPSON, who settled in Canada in the early 1900s. Both married in Canada and served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Based on information from the daughter of one of the relatives I hoped to learn more of, I concentrated my enquiries on Winnipeg. After all, one would expect this family source to be accurate wouldn't one? I had of course ignored one of the first rules of genealogy and, in so doing, wasted a lot of time! I knew from military records that they served in Saskatchewan regiments but assumed that they had popped over the border to enlist. Now that I have obtained their military records, I discover that they had Saskatchewan addresses at the time and Walter's widow was still in the area when her war pension was granted. I shall now try to trace family in that state. No wonder that I got no response from Winnipeg even though I had details of Walter's daughter and grand-daughter! At least I think I have these details ----they were from the same source! The Winnipeg connection was that Joseph's son was cared for by an aunt, his mother having died just before Joseph enlisted in 1916. This aunt lived in Emerson, Manitoba. I know that this son , Wilfred/Wilford Thomson has now died but he has family who probably still live in Manitoba, but not necessarily in Winnipeg. I send this message to underline the maxim of not relying on the memory of living relatives, no matter how close, kinship-wise if not geograhically! Audrey Chessman, England