Cpl B. Sherburn, whose mother Mrs W. Christie, lives at 61 East Avenue, Halfpenny Lane, Pontefract, has been wounded in Italy.

 In a letter to his mother he says, ''A Jerry popped his head out of the vines about 10 feet away, and threw a grenade at me, I thought I had had it when it burst between my legs, so I thought Jerry might as well go with me, and I gave him a burst with my tommy gun. I managed to crawl back.''

Cpl Sherburn, who is 24, has been in seven hospitals, and is now doing well. He says the Gothic Line fighting is the toughest he has been in. As a Territorial, he was called up at the beginning of the war, and has been abroad for more than three years. He was formerly a bricklayer with Messrs Brown and Lodge. Two brothers, David and George, are in the Marines and Navy respectively. Cpl Sherburn speaks of meeting a Ferrybridge and an ''Old Church'' man in Italy, but does not give their names.

1944 INDEX