The previously unnamed grave of a World War II soldier from Saltash, Cornwall, who served with the Hampshire Regiment, has been identified and rededicated in his name 81 years after his death.
The rededication service for Private Sidney Allen was organized by the Ministry of Defence’s ‘War Detectives’ at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany.
JCCC Caseworker Nicola Nash said:
It is a great privilege to be here to honour Private Sidney Allen, who gave his life in service to his country at just 19 years of age. For more than 80 years, his family did not know exactly where he lay, making this identification especially significant. Today, we remember his sacrifice and ensure that his name, service, and story are never forgotten.
Cpl Wendy Robert, The Band of the Mercian Regiment, sounds Last Post at the service for Pte Allen (Crown Copyright)
Private Allen grew up in Saltash, working in HM Dockyard alongside his father. He enlisted in the Army in February 1944 and arrived in France that August, joining the 7th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, during the Allied advance through Normandy.
Over the following months, he took part in several key operations, including the capture of Mont Picon and Saint-Denis-de-Méré, the advance across the River Seine, the liberation of Brussels, Operation Market Garden, and fierce fighting in the Netherlands and Germany.
In February 1945, the battalion joined Operation Veritable, the offensive to clear the Reichswald Forest, where soldiers faced fierce resistance, deep mud, and flooded terrain. On February 15, 1945, during heavy fighting near Kleve and the Reichswald, Sidney was killed at the age of 19 and officially recorded as missing.
Decades later, research submitted by a member of the public established that he had originally been buried in Materborn alongside other soldiers killed in the same action. As the only member of the battalion from that engagement still listed as missing, the grave was finally identified as belonging to Private Sidney Allen.
The headstone was officially replaced by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
Fergus Read, Commemorations Case Officer at the CWGC, said:
It is deeply fitting that Private Sidney Allen is now commemorated by 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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