European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday july 7, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 9over hereto guardian of London photo by 09 11 a Thorp Shirley Mcguade who helps fellow britons trying to track Down their american fathers from world War ii holds a picture of her own father taken during the  of Wii romances seek their fathers by Dave Diehl . Bureau Birmingham England a Shirley Mcguade grew up in postwar England wondering a Why everyone had a dad and i  in response to mag Iader a questions her Mother said her father had been a a handsome american killed during the a Day invasion in 1944. There was just one problem with the explanation dad was killed is months before his daughter was born. F mag Iader a curiosity piqued by a few history lessons and maternal confessions thrust her headlong on a search for her father. Twelve years later she found him in Sacramento Calif. Mcguade is not alone in her curiosity she estimates there Are 100,000 British men and women in their 40s who share her experience they Are the offspring of gis who were said to be a overpaid oversexed and Over  these gis had romances with English women before they headed off to fight on the continent during world War ii. After the War they returned to the United states often unaware that their lovers had had children. To help her Kindred britons Mcguade runs an Agency called War babes out of her Home. Mag Iader a Persona search started in 1972, when she contacted the american embassy in London. Officials there told her to write to the Pentagon. A that was my first mistake a a rueful Mcguade said. With Little to go on she spent 12 years in what she called a halfhearted  she read a newspaper article about former gis visiting Birmingham and she wrote to the newspaper in an Effort to find out about the Tours in the Remote Chance that her father would be on one. Mag Iader a search caught the interest of the newspaper staff and she ended up on the news pages. A a that a when i found out i Wasny to unique a she said. �?o1 got hundreds of letters and Telephone Calls elderly ladies crying looking for their sons or daughters fathers a she said. She eventually ended up in the National newspapers and on american to including no cd so today show and most recently the �?o20-20�?� newsmagazine. Had Mcguade not ended up in the Public spotlight she might never have found her father Jack Crowley a 70-year-old retired Quality Assurance Engineer now living in Sacramento. A lawyer who saw her on the a today show eventually found her dad for her. Mcguade who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis she thinks might have been acquired from her fathers Side of the family has also become something of a pain in the neck for . Government agencies. She said the government is holding Back information on veterans that it has no right withhold. A spokesman at the . Embassy in London said a your position which has been made Clear is that the embassy is not sitting on a Box full of records. We just done to have these records. Its not our  the embassy publishes a three Page handout that lists about a dozen official and unofficial sources and methods to help people find Active duty and retired service members. Still dissatisfied with the . Government she filed a lawsuit eight months ago against the . National archives in an Effort to try to get the Agency to release More information about veterans. War babes has found 93 fathers most of whom Are glad the group succeeded Mcguade said. A converted spare room at her Home is crammed with letters documents and photos from some 400 people who still Are searching. But her efforts done to please everyone. Pamela Winfield who Heads a similar group dislikes mag Iader a methods of seeking out unsuspecting fathers. A you cannot Knock on a door and say a i dad a Quot said Winfield who Heads Trace from her Home in Surrey England. A a you a give them a heart  other critics said some of the american fathers May not want to be found for fear of embarrassment or disruption of their lives. For such reasons the salvation army a a noted finder of missing persons throughout the world a will not help illegitimate children find their parents said maj. Colin Fairclough at the Charity a London offices. Winfield said the methods used by agencies like the department of veterans affairs Are strictly ethical. The a will not give out addresses but will Forward letters to those on its Rolls. A spokesman for the department in Washington said there is one condition to the forwarding service All letters must be unsealed inside a sealed envelope of courses officials can be sure the letter is not commercial advertising. Winfield who is writing a Book about the children of these wartime romances advises people How to find their american relatives. Trace has helped about a third of its 600 members find their relatives since 1984. Winfield said. Depending on the outcome of her lawsuit Mocq Laden a task May get easier. She claims that she has other resources a and she wont name them All a that will help her find fathers by knowing Only names and birth dates. She is optimistic. But Given her experience with agencies that she feels have been less than open her Outlook is tempered with doubt. A i always believed America was the land of the free Quot she said