A WOMAN hopes to reunite a Keighley family with their ancestor’s medals. Tracy Morgan-Humphreys is a granddaughter of Sergeant William Tyner who died from burns as a prisoner of war.

He died in Japan in 1945 following an Allied bombing of a steelworks where POWs were used as slave labour.

Tracy said: “James Downs died from burns sustained trying to rescue my grandfather and other non-British POWs. His parents John and Margaret were living at 78 Grafton Street, Keighley, at the time of his death. He was posthumously Mentioned In Dispatches for his bravery/sacrifice.

“He and my grandfather were the only two British POWs to die in the incident, and now Private Downs’s medals including his MID oak leaf have come up for sale at auction.”

Tracy wants to trace descendants of Private Downs so she can encourage them to buy his medals. Private Downs, aged 31 at his death, service number 7263665, and Sgt Tyner both served with the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Anyone able to help should email tracy.morganhumphreys@ntlworld.com.