Cornish Soldier Buried

A young World War II British Army soldier whose remains took almost a decade to forensically identify, is to finally be laid to rest near Arnhem close to where he was killed in action. Private Lewis Curtis was just 19 years old when he died for his country in a bitter battle outside Oosterbeek in the Netherlands during the infamous Operation Market Garden in 1944.

The remains of the young soldier, who was originally from Cornwall, were unearthed in 2003 by builders excavating an area of land to make way for a modern housing estate. Only after old dental records were uncovered did the young soldier’s true identity finally come to light.