From Florida, a man tells of his search for his sister, born in Auckland, who he has never met - one of a lost generation of New Zealanders whose existence has never, officially,
been admitted. Edward Rooney reports.

Billy O. Wertley's legacy of his time in Auckland with the US Hospital Corps is a mystery that nags at his son, 70 years later.

"He was a Chief Pharmacist's Mate (Hospital Corpsman). His full name was Maurice O. Wertley. He went by the name of Billy. His ship was probably the Tucker or Chester," Neil Wertley tells me down the phone line from Florida.

The mystery surrounds a relationship his father had in Auckland - and the daughter born as a result.

"My sister is supposed to be a year younger than me," says Neil. "I was born in July 1941. I'm guessing his ship was among the first to pull liberty [in Kiwi terms, go on shore leave] in Auckland."

Neil's sister would have been born in 1942. Sadly, his father disclosed very limited information to her brother about his only other sibling, far away in the South Seas.

Billy O. Wertley was born on November 17, 1916, and lived to 94. The account is, he met and fell for a girl who worked with the Red Cross in Auckland. By the time Billy shipped out, she was pregnant and he mostly kept secret any correspondence he exchanged with her.

"I've forgotten the name of the Red Cross girl other than her name started with a 'J' and that she was a blonde," says 69-year-old Neil.

Sketchy details indeed, but Neil - a retired university dean and Vietnam veteran - still hopes to seek out the sister he has never known.