I followed this thread and read your other regarding Frederick Charles Harris b.29/1/1912 and how you were surprised to find he was 'married' on the 1939 register and believe he died in WW2.
I appreciate all you have said about his family and that they said he was killed in the war.
However, there was only the one Frederick C. Harris birth in Mar.qtr.1912 Norfolk and that is definitely your man (mmn Mears).
Having established via different sources that there was no death for a Frederick C. Harris b.1912 during the war years in UK or on CWGC doubts were expressed that did he indeed die then.
As a result of this I noted a Frederick C. Harris death in Fakenham regn. district in Dec.1966 whose born was 1912 - I decided to send for the death certificate because this whole scenario kept going round and round in my head.
The certificate arrived today - Frederick Charles Harris aged 54 of 6 Waveney Road, Hunstanton, Norfolk died 17/10/1966. His occupation is 'Dining Car Attendant' and the informant of his death is a G R Harris, son of same address.
You must admit, the occupation matches what you know of Frederick Charles i.e. working for the railway and a waiter in railway hotel in 1939.
Frederick Charles Harris appears to have married an Ethel F. Ginn in Dec.qtr.1936 Docking, Norfolk - in 1939 you know he was in a hotel in London, and Ethel is shown living in Hunstanton. There are 3 closed records who may or may not have been children of theirs - there were certainly children born after 1939 one of whom has the initials G R (I won't name as probably still living) born in 1942. Another son in 1946 with initials L C (the L being the Christian name of one of your Frederick's brothers).
On paper, everything we now know about this Frederick Charles Harris matches the details of your man. You say the family were very closeknit etc. but perhaps something happened and he became estranged from his family because of this and it was easier for them to explain away that he'd died during the war (of which there is no trace) to account for his absence in the family. Can only hypothesize of course but with a closeknit family like this they'd surely have known precisely when/where he died rather than a vague 'he died in the war'. Perhaps the family didn't approve of his wife for some reason and this caused the initial 'rift'. Certainly, you yourself were surprised to see he was married when you found him on the 1939 Register in London, hence this thread regarding Mary Polin who you were considering may have been said wife.
I feel certain that the man who died in Hunstanton in 1966 is indeed your man - that he married Ethel F. Ginn in 1936 Docking and when your man is living/working in London in a railway hotel in 1939 she is living as head of the household in Hunstanton with possible child/children (incorrectly transcribed as Ethel T. rather than Ethel F.).
I wasn't sure whether to post this on your Frederick Charles Harris thread of last year but in the end decided as this was your most recent thread regarding him and the subject being considered as a possible 'wife' for him that perhaps it was more prudent to post it here.
I can't make you believe me, of course, but I certainly feel there was more to the situation than the family revealed and that your Frederick was indeed the man who died in Hunstanton in 1966.
Annette
