STORY
The previously unnamed grave of a Cornish soldier killed during the Second World War has been identified as that of Private Sidney Allen, 81 years after his death. A rededication service organised by the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany, where a new headstone bearing his name was unveiled.
Private Allen grew up in Saltash and worked at HM Dockyard alongside his father before enlisting in the Army in February 1944. He arrived in France six months later and joined the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, taking part in the Allied advance through Normandy, the liberation of Brussels, Operation Market Garden and subsequent fighting in the Netherlands and Germany. He was killed aged 19 during heavy fighting near Cleve and the Reichswald on 15 February 1945 and was officially recorded as missing.
Research submitted by a member of the public established that Private Allen had originally been buried at Materborn alongside other soldiers killed during the same action. He was the only member of the battalion lost during the engagement who remained listed as missing, allowing investigators to identify the grave. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has replaced the previously unnamed headstone and will maintain his grave in perpetuity.