Grave of Cornish Second World War Soldier Missing Since 1945 Identified in Germany

Key Points

• The previously unnamed grave of Private Sidney Allen, a Cornish soldier who died in 1945, has been identified in Germany.
• Allen was 19 when he was killed on 15 February 1945 during fighting near Cleve and the Reichswald Forest.
• He served with the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, and had joined the Army in February 1944.
• His family spent more than 80 years without knowing the precise location of his burial.
• Ministry of Defence War Detectives helped establish that the previously unidentified grave was Allen’s.
• Research by a member of the public showed that Allen had originally been buried at Materborn alongside other soldiers killed in the same action.
• The grave has now been rededicated to Allen at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has replaced the headstone and will maintain the grave in perpetuity.
• Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre caseworker Nicola Nash said the identification ensured Allen’s name, service and story would not be forgotten.
• Allen grew up in Saltash and worked at HM Dockyard alongside his father before joining the Army.
• The identification provides a known grave for a soldier who had previously been commemorated on a memorial as missing.

Germany Latest News (GLN) October 7, 2026 – The grave of Private Sidney Allen, a Second World War soldier from Cornwall who had been officially recorded as missing after his death in 1945, has been identified in Germany 81 years after he was killed. The Ministry of Defence said the previously unnamed grave has been rededicated to Allen following research that established his identity. Allen, who served with the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, was 19 when he died during heavy fighting near Cleve and the Reichswald Forest. His identification means his family and military records can now be connected to a known burial place.

The Ministry of Defence said a rededication service was organised by its War Detectives at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany. The ceremony formally recognised Allen at his final resting place after decades in which he was commemorated as a soldier whose grave was unknown.

How was Private Sidney Allen’s grave identified after more than 80 years?

According to the Ministry of Defence, research submitted by a member of the public played a significant role in establishing the identity of the previously unnamed grave. The research showed that Allen had originally been buried at Materborn alongside other soldiers who had been killed during the same action.

The Ministry of Defence said Allen was the only member of his battalion from that particular engagement who remained officially listed as missing. That information, combined with the historical evidence concerning the original burial, allowed investigators to identify the grave as belonging to Private Sidney Allen.

The identification subsequently led to the replacement of the headstone by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The development was also reported by Zhara Simpson for AOL’s South West coverage. Simpson reported that the Ministry of Defence had confirmed the identification and that Allen had been rededicated at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

The available reports do not identify an author for the original Ministry of Defence news release because it was issued as an official government publication. Accordingly, no journalist name has been attributed to the Ministry of Defence’s statements beyond the named officials quoted in the release.

Who was Private Sidney Allen and where did he come from?

Private Sidney Allen was from Cornwall and grew up in Saltash. The Ministry of Defence said he worked at HM Dockyard alongside his father before joining the Army.

The contemporary report carried by AOL, by Zhara Simpson, states that Allen worked as a shell fitter at HM Dockyard, while his father worked as a bricklayer. The Ministry of Defence’s account similarly records that Allen worked at the dockyard alongside his father before his military service.

Allen enlisted in the Army on 3 February 1944. After a period of service in the United Kingdom, he arrived in France on 9 August 1944. He subsequently joined the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, during the Allied advance through Normandy.

His military service therefore took place during the final stages of the Second World War in north-west Europe, when British and Allied forces were advancing through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and towards Germany.

The identification of his grave provides additional certainty about the final stage of his military story, which for decades had remained incomplete because he had been officially recorded as missing.

What operations did Sidney Allen take part in during the Second World War?

The Ministry of Defence said Allen’s service included a series of operations during the Allied advance across north-west Europe.

After arriving in France in August 1944, he joined the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment. The battalion subsequently took part in operations including the capture of Mont Picon and St-Denis-de-Mere, the advance across the River Seine and the liberation of Brussels.

Allen’s service also included Operation Market Garden and fighting in the Netherlands and Germany, according to the Ministry of Defence.

These operations formed part of the wider Allied campaign following the Normandy landings. The military advance progressively moved Allied forces across France and Belgium before fighting continued in the Netherlands and into German territory.

The Ministry of Defence’s account places Allen’s final action within Operation Veritable, an offensive launched in February 1945 to clear the Reichswald Forest area.

What happened to Sidney Allen in February 1945?

In February 1945, the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment joined Operation Veritable. According to the Ministry of Defence, troops involved in the offensive encountered fierce resistance as well as difficult conditions involving deep mud and flooded terrain.

On 15 February 1945, during heavy fighting near Cleve and the Reichswald, Allen was killed. He was 19 years old.

The Ministry of Defence said Allen was officially recorded as missing following his death.

The uncertainty surrounding his burial continued for more than eight decades. His name was previously commemorated on a memorial for personnel whose graves were not known.

The discovery and subsequent identification of the grave have therefore changed the official record of where Allen was buried.

Why was the identification significant to Allen’s family?

The Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre caseworker Nicola Nash said the identification was particularly significant because Allen’s family had not known exactly where he lay for more than 80 years.

Nash said it was a privilege to honour Allen, who had died while serving his country at 19. She said the identification ensured that his name, service and story would not be forgotten.

The statement highlights the continuing role of military casualty investigation decades after a conflict has ended. In Allen’s case, the conclusion of the investigation has provided a specific location associated with his death and burial.

The significance is also reflected in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s decision to replace the unidentified headstone with one bearing Allen’s name.

What did the Commonwealth War Graves Commission say about the newly identified grave?

Fergus Read, Commemorations Case Officer at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, said it was appropriate that Allen was now commemorated by name at his final resting place.

Read said the evidence supporting the identification was compelling. He also noted that Allen had previously been commemorated on a memorial but now had a known grave.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission said it would care for Allen’s grave in perpetuity.

The statement marks the transition from an unknown burial associated with a missing serviceman to an identified Commonwealth war grave.

The CWGC’s involvement also means the grave will remain part of the organisation’s long-term commemoration of Commonwealth military personnel who died during the two world wars and other conflicts.

What happened during Operation Veritable?

Operation Veritable was the offensive in which Allen was killed. The Ministry of Defence described it as an operation to clear the Reichswald Forest.

The campaign took place in difficult conditions, with troops confronting resistance as well as mud and flooded terrain. The fighting around the Reichswald formed part of the Allied advance towards the Rhine during the closing months of the war in Europe.

For Allen’s battalion, the operation became the setting for his final military action on 15 February 1945.

His death was followed by the absence of a confirmed burial location in official records. That status remained for decades until later research connected him with the Materborn burial.

How did the rededication ceremony recognise Sidney Allen?

The Ministry of Defence’s War Detectives organised the rededication service at the CWGC Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

The ceremony formally recognised Allen by name at a cemetery where his grave is now identified.

According to the Ministry of Defence, Corporal Wendy Robert of the Band of the Mercian Regiment sounded the Last Post during the service. The Ministry also published details of the participation of Colonel (retired) Stephen Owen OBE of the Royal British Legion.

The ceremony followed the conclusion of the identification process and the replacement of the grave’s headstone.

The rededication therefore represents both a military commemoration and an administrative conclusion to a case that had remained unresolved since 1945.

What does Sidney Allen’s identification mean for the historical record?

Allen’s case demonstrates how military casualty investigations can continue long after the end of a conflict.

For more than 80 years, the official record described Allen as missing. The later research established a connection between his military identity, the circumstances of his death and a grave that had previously not carried his name.

The Saltash War Memorial records Private Sidney Allen, 14708469, of the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, as having died on 15 February 1945 at the age of 19. It previously listed him as being commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial in the Netherlands because his grave was not known.

The newly identified grave changes that position. Rather than being remembered only among those whose graves remain unidentified, Allen now has a named grave at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

That distinction is important for historical records because the physical location of an individual soldier’s burial can provide a final link between military documentation and commemoration.

What is known about Allen’s final resting place?

The investigation established that Allen had originally been buried at Materborn alongside other soldiers killed in the same action.

The Ministry of Defence said this evidence, combined with the fact that Allen was the only member of the battalion from that engagement still listed as missing, enabled investigators to identify the grave.

The grave is now associated with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. The Commission has replaced the headstone so that Allen is commemorated by name.

The cemetery is in Germany, north of Essen, and the site now provides a permanent location for Allen’s commemoration.

The identification does not alter the circumstances of his death, which occurred during the fighting of February 1945, but it does resolve the question of where his remains were ultimately laid to rest.

What does the identification mean for the people of Cornwall?

For Cornwall and particularly Saltash, the identification reconnects a local serviceman with a known wartime grave.

Allen grew up in Saltash and worked at HM Dockyard before joining the Army. His local connections were already reflected in memorial records in Saltash, including references to him on local Second World War memorials.

His newly identified grave adds a physical location to those existing local commemorations.

For families, veterans’ organisations and communities involved in remembrance, identifying previously missing personnel can provide a more complete record of individual service. In Allen’s case, the process has also preserved his connection to his home community while establishing his final resting place in Germany.

What is the background to the identification of Private Sidney Allen’s grave?

Private Sidney Allen enlisted in February 1944 and reached France in August of that year. He served with the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment as Allied forces advanced through north-west Europe.

His service included actions in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. In February 1945, the battalion took part in Operation Veritable in the Reichswald Forest area.

Allen was killed on 15 February 1945, aged 19, during fighting near Cleve and the Reichswald. He was subsequently recorded as missing and, for decades, his grave remained unidentified.

Later research by a member of the public established that Allen had been buried at Materborn with other soldiers killed during the same action. Because he was the only member of his battalion from that engagement still recorded as missing, investigators were able to establish the identity of the previously unnamed grave.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission subsequently replaced the headstone and the Ministry of Defence organised a rededication ceremony at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

What could the identification mean for families and military remembrance?

For the families of missing wartime personnel, the identification of a grave can provide a confirmed place of burial after many decades of uncertainty.

In Allen’s case, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that his family had spent more than 80 years without knowing exactly where he lay. The identification therefore provides a permanent location at which he can be commemorated by name.

For military historians and remembrance organisations, the case also demonstrates that unresolved Second World War casualty records can still be examined using documentary and historical evidence.

The prediction for families of missing servicemen, veterans’ organisations and remembrance communities is therefore that Allen’s identification will primarily strengthen the historical and commemorative record surrounding a previously unresolved wartime death. It may also demonstrate the continuing value of archival research and public contributions in cases involving unidentified war graves, although the outcome of any other individual case would depend on the evidence available.