A second world war evacuee who was brought to Lowestoft at just 18 months old is hoping to return to his childhood town next year for a special reunion.

A second world war evacuee who was brought to Lowestoft at just 18 months old is hoping to return to his childhood town next year for a special reunion.

Mike Bristow was moved to safety with his mother Edna from Sidcup, in Kent, as a toddler when his father Frank was serving in Africa.

After they had made a life in the town, Frank returned to join them in Lowestoft in peacetime.

As he grew up, Mike attended Roman Hill School and Lowestoft Grammar School with his younger sisters Valerie and Patricia.

After graduating, he went on to work and study in London before moving to Toronto in 1965.

There he met his wife Carol, and by 1973 they had their first son Jason.

They moved to Ottawa in 1974, where he worked as the chief financial officer for a small company. Eight years later he was transferred to the United States and bought a home in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

“I travelled quite a lot and the company made several acquisitions, including one in England,” said Mike, now 66.

“This was a good time because we were able to visit my parents and sisters while I worked. Jason played with a local soccer team in Lowestoft for a few weeks and I made my first friends with the Waveney Youth Club.

“The soccer coaching in Minnesota was very grassroots in the 1980s, so I started coaching.

“Carol and I, together with several parents, brought various teams to England and we stayed at the Pontins holiday camp, where we received coaching from my contacts at the Waveney and Pakefield clubs.”

Throughout this time Mike kept in touch with school- friend Trevor Dye, who lives at Worlingham, exchanging New Year greetings but only meeting once or twice in more than 30 years.

Last year they met again, as they took their wives to dinner to the Ivy House Hotel, Oulton Broad. Sometime after this the two began to formulate a plan to hold a school reunion.

They have begun building a list of classmates from their time at Lowestoft Grammar School and hope to reunite those who began at the school in 1952 and graduated in 1957, or 1959 if they went on to upper sixth form.

Using a local US business, he has scanned a September 1955 class line-up, putting a red number on each person featured.

He hopes to email this to all of the contacts he has made, with the aim of identifying each person.

To date he has managed to identify 40 of the 307 students, teachers and staff featured.

Mike and Trevor's planned 50-year reunion is due to take place next year. If you are on the class line-up or can help to name any of those featured, email michaelbristow@

comcast.net or write to him at 8805 Boulder Rise, Eden Prairie, Mn 55347, USA.