re the DNA to identify soldiers. thank you Margaret for the question about the male side. The army requires both the Mt mitochondrial dna from the female side and the Y dna from the male side, as each on its own may not be sufficiently definitive. It is not a straight yes or no answer, it is on multiple scores and a low score may be by chance, while the same score on both, may be more definitive. It is obviously quite complex. When they first started doing the testing after 2008, the family were allowed two donors of each, now only one test of each is allowed. In the case of Witton, the Y male side DNA has been done, but no result was gained, so the Mt side is very important. We try to get as close to the soldier as possible, eg a second cousin is better than a third cousin. And no matter how careful we may be, there will always be reasons why someone from the correct line may not be carrying the dna. this may be more possible with the male line where the chance of a father not being the biological father is perhaps a little higher. We have had several soldiers who were illegitimate, and have gone with the putative father if no other possibility eg a man mentioned in the court cases newspaper report being sued for support of a child, or mentioned as not accepting responsibility for a child living on the streets. Recently in two cases I was researching, feeling very pleased to have found a living relative – potential donor - I was told that their parent was adopted, and the adoptee was of an age group where certain generations were not told they were adopted, so felt very grateful that they knew. In another case a rather reticent gent who had agreed to be the donor for the mt line coming down from his mother’s mother’s line , eventually contacted me and told me he was feeling very uncomfortable, and on teasing it out, it was because he knew that his grandparents had both committed bigamy, big family secret......, and perhaps he came from the wrong side. He was actually quite delighted when I told him that it didnt matter if the traditional milkman was involved (Father Ted – great episode) the mother’s line was all we needed in that case. . The army organises the testing which is all completely coded and private and only the lab knows the answers. Each donor is checked against all the 250 dna they have. We have one family where two brothers died at Fromelles the same day. If the dna matches, they will need to use all their other forensic evidence to make the decision, height, dental, type of wound etc.. In the s=case of Witton we are finding we need to go back in time to find that important line so are grateful for any help your list can offer. On the other hand – if we do find that line, we will need a lot of help in finding the potential donor, as we will have gone though perhaps six surnames back into the past and then might go through another ten coming down to the present. and keep finger crossed that we wont be looking for a SMITH.. We do follow electoral rolls and phone books as well as traditional web sites. Always grateful for good ideas about sources. Also grateful for anyone who wants to help, as this is just one of many. We welcome experienced searchers to join our group. We have quite a few where we have tracked a family to the 1940s, but just cant find them after that. I hope this helps to clarify, happy to answer any questions. Marg O’Leary Fromelles Association. From: Margaret O'Shea Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 10:05 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Witton Kenworthy Dalton Hello Marg Is it not possible to DNA test from the male line. I can see that apparently Witton’s brother Basil had no children, but their father had several Dalton brothers. Margaret Oxford England.