A man who began work at the Yorkshire Post as a cub reporter during the war, has died, aged 79.

One of his first stories was being on the spot when a downed German fighter pilot gave himself up.

Stanley Wilkinson worked at the Bradford office of the paper from the age of 15 up until joining the Navy at 18.

He returned home from his wartime exploits to re-join the Post in Bradford before moving to Harrogate as sports editor with Ackrill Newspapers.

His next move took him to the Doncaster Evening Post as features editor before moving to the Wakefield Express, again becoming features editor, and retiring from that role in 1990.

He was a keen chess player throughout his life, penning the chess column for the Yorkshire Post for more than 20 years. He was a one-time winner of the British Postal Chess Championship. He was also a keen gardener and had played cricket at local level for 35 years.

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