A retired headteacher is seeking more information about a Bradford war hero as the 60th anniversary of his death approaches.

Fagley-born stretcher bearer Eric Anderson rescued three fellow soldiers but was shot dead while trying to save a fourth in a bloody battle in Tunisia on April 6, 1943.

It was his first wedding anniversary and he was just 27 years old.

A few months later George VI awarded Eric's widow Irene the Victoria Cross for her husband's courage.

Now Joan Honey, former headteacher of Margaret Macmillan First School in Manningham, is researching Private Anderson's story at the request of her uncle, John Thornton, who went to the same school as the war hero - Thornbury Boys School - and crafted a bronze memorial to him as a teenager.

"I have gone to several places taking photographs of memorials to Pte Anderson - it's amazing how famous he was," said Mrs Honey, "But I don't know where the VC medal is now."

Memorials to Pte Anderson include the Bradford Cenotaph, a gallery in City Hall, a plaque in Bradford Cathedral, a plate in Beverley Minster and a stone at Fagley United Reformed Church. Two of these memorials have been taken down recently, owing to to re-building.

Mr Thornton's bronze plaque, a copy of the Victoria Cross medal, was hung in Thornbury Boys School, now Thornbury Primary School, on Dick Lane. Mr Thornton, 75, who lives in the Cotswolds, was commissioned to create the plaque when he was just 15.

Mrs Honey said: "As a boy, my uncle took the plaque to show Mr Anderson's widow and it made a big impression on him."

In August 1943, Telegraph & Argus readers raised £1,345 to support Mrs Anderson, who died in 1986.

Leo Connolly, Thornbury Primary School headteacher, hopes to commemorate the anniversary of Pte Anderson's death in an event with the school. A stone memorial, built into the walls of the former Fagley United Reformed Church on Fagley Road, was redressed when the building was pulled down.

Minister Howard Jones said: "We want to put the stone up in the vestibule of the new building in time for the anniversary in April."

Anyone with information about Pte Anderson, is asked to ring Rosey Hamilton at the T&A on (01274) 705255.