TWO members of a family have been reunited after a gap of almost 50 years - thanks to the Chronicle.

In this column a couple of weeks ago, we told the tragic story of Private William Roper who died on active service in France on October 14 1939. Born in New Street, Barnsley, he was the first British soldier to die on active service during the Second World War.

His niece, Linda Windle, who lives in Dewsbury, told us the sad story of how William had been in France only three weeks when he lost his life. William had a younger brother, Peter and three sisters, Lily, Minnie and Anne. Anne and Peter were born in Racecommon Road and Lily and Minnie in Wigan.

The family moved to Dewsbury in the early 1930s but Minnie, who married Cyril Hoyland, remained in Barnsley. They had two daughters, Frances and Brenda. Linda was trying to trace relatives of Minnie's family still living in the Barnsley area. She had information about the rest of her mother's family, but nothing about her Aunt Minnie.

A couple of days after publication, we heard from Minnie's daughter, Brenda Houghton (nee Hoyland) of Worsbrough Bridge.

"I got a shock when I saw the article, but I was very, very pleased to know Linda was looking for me." When we told Linda that Brenda had been in touch with us, she said: "I can't believe it, I can't thank the Chronicle enough for what they have done for me."