A SECOND World War soldier from a Wiltshire regiment was due to be laid to rest with full military honours today, 62 years after he was reported missing in action.
Private Thomas Venn, a soldier in the Fifth Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, was killed on October 2, 1944, at Nijmegen in the Netherlands after his battalion came under fierce attack from enemy fire.
The 19-year-old had enlisted with the regiment just nine months earlier, in February 1944, and had served in north west Europe.
His family were told he was missing in action and it was not until 2001 that his remains were discovered at a house in De Laar, south of Arnhem.
The Dutch Army Recovery Team used regimental dental records to identify Private Venn, 62 years after his death, and his family were notified.
He will receive full military honours while being re-interred alongside his fallen comrades at Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the Netherlands.
His family are due to be at the ceremony and the Honour Guard and buglers will be provided by the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry and music by the Band of the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
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