Re: "I found out that the man I thought was my father was not my biological father. Who was? I've no idea and I don't suppose I'll ever know. It was wartime and..." John's situation is actually fairly common. For identifying a biological patriline, the Y chromosome STR test is generally preferred. It will often identify a surname and, for multi-source names, a genetic family within that name. Because the Y chromosome is relatively stable, the test can reach back many generations, to roughly the 14th century. Recently, a man with a completely unknown father joined our Taylor DNA project. We were able to quickly identify from which Taylor family his father came. After more work, we pinned down his father to either of two brothers. At present, only one company (Family Tree DNA) offers this test and has an adequate database of results. (Ancestry DNA and 23andMe tests are primarily of other DNA.) Unfortunately, yDNA doesn't work as well for Lancashire men -- for the simple reason that one can't match someone who hasn't also tested and has their results in the same database. Few in the British Isles have done this test, so one is relying primarily on the subset of families who emigrated to America and have living descendants. . -rt_/)