A KEIGHLEY and Worth Valley military history group hopes to unite a First World War memorial plaque with any surviving descendants of the soldier it commemorates.

Members of Men of Worth were handed the bronze plaque – colloquially known as a Dead Man's Penny – while manning a stand at a heritage day in Keighley's Local Studies Library earlier this month. (Sept)

The plaque commemorates a man called Edward Sunderland, and is understood to have been the only memorial of its type inscribed with this name.

Group spokesman Andy Wade said the man who gave him the plaque had explained he inadvertently took possession of it when he bought a box of brass fittings at a car boot sale in Bingley.

The plaque had also been in the box, jumbled up with the other items.

Mr Wade said: "There were over a million memorial plaques issued for British soldiers and included Australian, Canadian and New Zealand forces.

"We know Edward Sunderland was born in Manningham, but his mum Mary Elizabeth Sunderland was born in Shipley, which brings us closer to where the plaque surfaced in Bingley.

"We'd love to find any family members and return the plaque. It could have been lost for years."

Mr Sunderland was a private in the 6th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment. He worked as a joiner's apprentice and enlisted in the army in Bradford in November 1916 when he was 18-years-old.

He was killed in action on the Western Front on October 23, 1918, less than a month before the end of the war.

First World War memorial plaques were issued after the war to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the conflict.

The plaques feature an image of Britannia standing next to a lion and holding a trident, along with the words "He died for freedom and honour".

The name of the deceased serviceman or servicewoman does not include their rank, to show that there should be no distinction between the sacrifices made by different people.

Plaques were usually sent to next-of-kin in a pack with a commemorative scroll from King George V.

People with any further information on the Edward Sunderland plaque can visit menofworth.org.uk to get in touch with either Mr Wade or Ian Walkden.