PHOTOGRAPHS of survivors of the First World War and postcards showing the dedication of the war memorial in Ilkley have been sent in by a reader.

Chris Hill, of Skipton, said: "My granddad John Hill and his brothers Harry and James all took part in the great war, and thankfully all came back to their family home then in Halton East, grand uncle Jim however lost the use of his left arm having been shot in the conflict."

A TRAGIC link to the First World War has emerged after the publication of an historical item in the Wharfedale Observer.

The piece about West End gamekeeper "Wild Will" has prompted interest from local historians in Adel who have discovered that his son Peter was one of the many who died in the "war to end all wars."

In its 75 years ago section earlier this year the Observer carried a piece about William Nelson who had been gamekeeper for the Duke of Devonshire for 37 years. William, who often shared a joke with King George V during his working life, celebrated his 84th birthday in 1939 and died several months later.

Pat Riley, from Adel, said: "As part of centenary research into the backgrounds of the 18 men whose names appear on Adel’s war memorial, we have been trying to find out about one of the 18 called Peter Nelson, and have discovered that he was one of the sons of the William Nelson referred to above. They came from the hamlet of West End, Thruscross, and before they moved to Garth Crook farm they lived in the part of the village now under the waters of Thruscross reservoir. Peter Nelson, a Private in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, was killed on 7 July 1916 in the disastrous action at Aubers Ridge and is buried at Authuile cemetery, France. As Peter’s name is on the war memorial in Adel St John the Baptist church as well as on the memorial now in Thornthwaite church (originally in Holy Trinity church, West End, before the valley was flooded in 1966), he must have been working in Adel when he enlisted, probably as horseman on a farm, as all the younger Nelson boys got jobs working with horses on farms when they left home to find work."

Pat added: "This local WW1 Adel war memorial research was begun in 2007 by Ann Lightman, local historian of Adel, and her notes were made into a booklet by another Adel local historian, Val Crompton. The booklet is entitled Adel WW1 War Memorial and WW1 deaths commemorated in Adel Churchyard 1914-1918, and was published by Adel St John the Baptist church in August 2014 to coincide with the centenary of the start of World War One."

The researchers had been unable to find out anything about two of the 18 men - Peter Nelson and George Lloyd - who were commemorated on the memorial, but Pat has managed to work out that Peter was the son of Wild Will.

Pat said: "I have also approached the estate office of the Duke of Devonshire and am awaiting information back from them: as 'Wild Will' Nelson worked for the Duke for 37 years and was clearly a favourite both with the Duke and with King George V, hopefully they will have information to share with us."