A pensioner is trying to trace a relative whose husband was killed in action during the Second World War.

Joyce Stevens, 76, of Stapley Road, Hove, is looking for Joyce Childs, who she lost contact with after the war.

Joyce was married to Mrs Stevens' husband's cousin, Ernest Wood, who was fatally wounded during a bid to liberate a town in Holland in October 1944.

Residents of the town s-Hertogenbosch are planning to commemorate the operation in October and intend to pay tribute to Mr Wood.

Mrs Stevens believes Joyce may wish to know about the commemoration and hopes to trace her in time.

Mr Wood was serving in the 1st/5th Battalion Welch Regiment, 53rd Welsh Division, when the company raided a vital bridge.

After the soldiers seized the Dieze Bridge there were many casualties during a fierce counter attack by the Germans.

Mr Wood, a former painter from Swansea, was wounded and taken to the local German headquarters, a former school, as a prisoner of war, where he died. He was buried in the backyard.

In 1946 Mr Wood was reburied in the war cemetery in Bergen op Zoom.

Mr Wood had only been married for about a year when he was killed. His wife, who came from Hove, later remarried and is believed to have moved to the Burgess Hill area.

Anyone with information about Joyce should contact Mrs Stevens on 01273 413509.