Search for Nottinghamshire soldier killed in Germany days before end of WWII

ITV News Central Correspondent Peter Bearne reports on the search to find any living relatives of WWII solider Anthony Taylor-Hurst

A search has begun for any living relatives of a teenage soldier from Nottinghamshire who was killed during the liberation of Nazi Germany.

Anthony Taylor-Hurst, who is from Mansfield, Woodhouse, was only 19-years-old when he died in a German municipality called Kutenholz.

Mr Taylor-Hurst was travelling in a tank with four other men, when it hit a mine and exploded, only four days before the end of the Second World War.

Historians have been able to find photos and trace living relatives of four of the five-man crew, however Anthony Taylor-Hurst remains elusive.

Now, almost 80 years later, a search has begun to find a member of Mr Taylor-Hurst's family to attend a dedication in May, at a memorial site which was created by Kutenholz locals last March.

The memorial site, which honours several British soldiers, is a gesture to honour those who helped liberate Germany.

Local historian Debbie Bülau, who is overseeing the site, has told ITV News Central: "We wanted to give ever victim that died here their name back, we wanted to tell their stories to keep their memory alive.

"This history happened right in front of our door and everyone said it was a good idea behind our memorial project."

Another historian, Joe Martin, has spent years researching Mansfield's war dead. 

He told ITV News Central: "It shows the length that living history to get a member of a family there who may not even be aware of Anthony giving his life for his country."

Mr Martin was also the one who discovered that Anthony Taylor-Hurst had an uncle who died in the First World War, William Taylor, who is commemorated in Yeoman Hill Park in Mansfield.

If Anthony Taylor-Hurst's name or story sounds familiar to you, or you think you know anyone who may be related to him, then do get in touch with us at centralnews@itv.com