Curators at Bradford Industrial Museum are appealing for help after they were given a rare generator which played a key role during the Second World War.

Believed to one of only two of its kind in world, the Scott/Jourett generator is on display at the museum after being given to the museum by a collector in Scotland.

The generator was used during the war by crews operating gun batteries to illuminate enemy positions.

It was made in Bradford and its previous owner, a man in Edinburgh, is convinced it is one of only two made.

The collector found the historic piece of equipment in his attic and, knowing it had been manufactured in Bradford, decided to give it to the museum.

Now Eugene Nicholson, officer at the museum, is appealing to Telegraph & Argus readers for information on its origins. He said: "It is a fascinating object and I am hoping that the great and good readership of the T&A will be able to shed some light on it.

"It was made during the second world war and was used in conjunction with a Bofors gun to illuminate the target it was shooting at.

"The chap who found it in Scotland is adamant it was made somewhere in Bradford and so I want to know if anyone knows anything about it."

Bradford has a rich tradition of contributing towards British military history.

The guns aboard the HMS Victory, which carried Admiral Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar, are believed to have been made at a works in Low Moor. The same works produced cannons which helped defend Australia during the colonial age, some of which defended popular areas such as Bondi Beach.

And cast iron columns used in the construction of British ships from this era were often made at a foundry in Bowling.

The word Bowling can be seen stamped on the pillars of ships to this day.

As reported in Saturday's T&A, the Industrial Museum is also hosting a new exhibition on Bradford's motorcycling heritage.

Anyone with any information about the generator is asked to contact the museum on (01274) 435866 or (01274) 435900.