My grandfather had a child in 1943 while on military service but returned to his wife and legitimate children after the war. The child was told by his mother that his father had died during the war.

That child is now 75 and only this year found out the truth, thanks to a search on ancestry.co.uk which turned up my family tree. Sadly much too late for him to know his father, but he has now been in contact with his three half-siblings, including my mum, that he never knew about.

It's lucky that I'm so totally comfortable dealing with these delicate matters and breaking news to people. It's exactly the sort of thing I really enjoy sorting out, and didn't lose any sleep over it.