Grave of Cornish WW2 soldier found in Germany

A grave of a World War Two soldier from Cornwall, missing since 1945, has been identified in Germany.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the previously unnamed grave had been rededicated to Private Sidney Allen, born in St Germans, 81 years after his death.

A service for Allen, who served in Hampshire Regiment, was organised by the MOD's war detectives at CWGC Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, north of Essen.

The government's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) caseworker Nicola Nash said: "Today we remember his sacrifice and ensure that his name, service and story are never forgotten."

Nash said Pte Allen died in service at 19 years old and was officially recorded as missing.

"For more than 80 years his family did not know exactly where he lay, making this identification especially significant," she added.

Pte Allen grew up in Saltash working in HM Dockyard as a shell fitter alongside his father, who was a bricklayer.

The MoD said he enlisted on 3 February 1944 and after a period in the UK, he arrived in France on 9 August 1944 joining the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, during the Allied advance through Normandy.

In February 1945, the MoD said the battalion joined Operation Veritable, the offensive to clear the Reichswald Forest, where soldiers faced "fierce resistance, deep mud and flooded terrain".

It said on 15 February 1945, during heavy fighting near Cleve and the Reichswald, he died.

A member of the public established he had originally been buried in Materborn alongside other soldiers killed in the same action decades later.

As the only member of the battalion from that engagement still listed as missing, the grave was finally identified as belonging to Allen, the MoD added.

The headstone has been replaced by Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

Officer Fergus Read said it was "deeply fitting" Allen was now commemorated by his name at his final resting place.

"The evidence for the grave identification was compelling, and Private Allen, who was previously commemorated on a memorial, now has a known grave, which the Commission will care for in perpetuity."

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