AFTER 70 years a wartime ‘GI Baby’ has found her long-lost family in America with the help of the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust.

In a story with a fairy tale ending, Tina Jones - from Haverfordwest - has met up with two of her three American sisters.

Tina and two of her sisters, Janet and Diane, met up in June where Tina’s mum fell in love with a handsome US Army soldier before he was posted to fight in Europe – Tenby.

Tina now knows all about her father, Ignazio Parrino, and his wartime story after his unit - the 110th Infantry Division - was hurriedly transferred from Pembrokeshire in advance of the D-Day Invasion in 1944.

Her mother, Rosa, last saw Ignazio at Swindon, where he was based before going to France in July 1944. Ignazio was badly wounded in the Ardennes Campaign - the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ - and was awarded the Purple Heart medal. He returned to the USA in July 1945 and left the army soon after.

Tina was born Ernestine Roberts in February 1945 and later, when her mother married, her name was changed to Monique Hatfield. After finding out about her real father she changed her name back to Ernestine - Ignazio had been known as Ernest to her mother. Tina always wanted to know what had happened to him, and it took until 2014 when the hidden chapters in her life story began to be revealed.

When researching for his book on American GIs in wartime Pembrokeshire - ‘The Friendly Invasion’ - Gareth Mills, of the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, was so moved by Tina’s story that he determined to spend time trying to help her find her past. Soon Gareth began to piece together much information on her American family connections.

Last summer Tina and Gareth were in contact with BBC family researcher Cat Whiteaway and this led to Tina appearing live on the Jeremy Vine Radio 2 programme. It was then she discovered she had three half-sisters living in Pennsylvania and New York, USA.

* The full story of the GI Baby is told in Gareth Mills’ ‘The Friendly Invasion’, published by the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust.