A man whose first home was destroyed by a World War II bomb is trying to trace the history of a toddler from Workington who was killed there.

Peter Graves, 85, was born at 5 Vicarage Terrace in Cambridge in 1933.

He has early memories of his time in the city, including being there for the coronation in 1937, but moved away late that decade to a new home in Derbyshire.

The house went on to become home to Thomas Arthur Beresford, who was originally from Workington, his wife Alice Violent, whose maiden name was Rayment, and their young son Michael Thomas.

Just a couple of years later, in June 1940, the house and others in the terrace were bombed and Mr Beresford, 33, his 31-year-old wife and their son, who was just two or three, all lost their lives.

Mr Graves and his parents learned about the blast a couple of days later when a neighbour in Derbyshire, knowing they had moved from Cambridge, showed them a newspaper article.

There on the page was an image of four of their relatives.

A photo of one of their loved ones standing on top of the rubble from the blast was later found in a Cambridge archives centre.

For many years Mr Graves did not think about the tragedy but it was brought back to his mind as he wrote his memoirs.

He said: "I realised I've got quite a story siting on the end of my pen.

"When I thought about it I just thought this little child was cheated out of having any of the experiences I have had.

"I've got a haunting feeling that I've lived at the expense of someone else.

"I want any relatives to know that I feel extremely moved by this.

"It suddenly seems quite a significant time for me even though I was not there.

"You just have to reflect on what would have happened. What would that little boy have done who came and took my place?

"I have done all sorts of things all over the map of the world really."

Mr Graves, a retired vicar who now lives in Nottinghamshire, has managed to find out a little about the Berefords.

The couple, he said, were married in 1932 and Mr Beresford's parents lived at 17 Roper Terrace, Workington.

Anyone with information about the family or who related to them can email Mr Graves at gravesp1@btinternet.com