The wife of a war veteran who was held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp has written to one of his fellow inmates after reading about his ordeal in the Telegraph & Argus.

Muriel Cordingley is hoping to contact Stanley Farrar who was held for three-and-a-half years with her late husband Bill Ackroyd.

The pair became close friends while they languished in prison and Mr Ackroyd was best man at Mr Farrar's wedding in 1946 after the pair had been released at the end of World War Two.

But they lost touch in the late 1940s.

Mr Ackroyd met Mrs Cordingley in the 1950s and they married in 1963 living in Baildon until Mr Ackroyd's death in 1991, aged 70.

As previously reported in the T&A Mr Farrar, 89, is hoping to meet up with former Bingley Council colleagues who faced losing their jobs during the war.

He said he had lost touch with Mr Ackroyd, who started work at Salts Mill as a joiner's apprentice when he was 14 and joined the RAF as a joiner to help the war effort.

After his release he worked at the mill until he retired in 1983 after almost 50 years service.

Mrs Cordingley, who married again in 2001 to Gordon, said she had written to Mr Farrar to detail her late husband's life up until his death.

"To me it would be lovely to make contact with Stanley as he would know things that happened to Bill while he was in prison," said the 76-year-old of Priory Grove, Bingley.

"Bill never talked about prison life much but he was never bitter.

"But his experiences made him appreciate every day of his life and every meal that he ate.

"He was a strong man but he knew to stay quiet in the camp. He was the most unselfish person I have ever met."

Mrs Cordingley, who never met Mr Farrar, said the two pals were forced to work to build an airstrip while they were held as PoWs, and used primitive tools to hack out the structure from rock.

She said Mr Ackroyd, who was captured by Japanese soldiers when his ship HMS Canterbury was taken as it sailed with troops going to serve in Singapore, would speak affectionately about Mr Farrar and always wanted to get back in touch.

Mr Farrar was captured in Java by Japanese soldiers.

Unknown to the RAF radio operator during his time in prison, he was one of 17 employees of the now defunct Bingley Council serving in the war effort who were listed for sacking to save the council paying them a three-and-a-half pence civilian rate ordered by the National Arbitration Tribunal. But the move against 'The Bing Boys', as they became known, was dropped after it caused uproar after it was reported in several national newspapers.

Mr Farrar, originally of Gilstead, but who moved to Glossop, Derbyshire, shortly after the war, now lives in Hyde, Cheshire. He still has family living in Gilstead and Keighley.

He has asked for any surviving members of the 17 to get in touch.

Anyone who would like to contact Mr Farrar about 'The Bing Boys' should write to him at 111 Sheffield Road, Hyde, Cheshire, SK14 2PL.