Lost WW2 soldier's Italian grave rededicated

Frederick Stobart was remembered at a rededication service in Italy

The grave of a British soldier who died in Italy during World War Two has been identified 81 years later.

Trooper Frederick Stobart, from Sunderland, served in the Royal Tank Regiment and was killed in 1943 after becoming a prisoner of war.

He was buried as an unknown casualty but his grave has now been identified thanks to an interview with a fellow soldier.

Tpr Stobart was remembered at a rededication service at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Bolsena War Cemetery in Italy on Wednesday.

Geert Bekaert, Director for Central and Southern Europe at the CWGC, said it was an honour to commemorate him.

"It is a privilege to care for his grave and all those that lie here at Bolsena War Cemetery, in perpetuity," he said.

The grave was identified after an independent researcher submitted evidence to the CWGC, including parts of a Red Cross interview with fellow prisoner of war Pte Robert Quinn of the Durham Light Infantry.

Shot during escape

Tpr Stobart was born in Sunderland in 1916 and lived with his maternal grandparents for some of his childhood.

He worked as a steel grinder before joining the Army in 1935.

After serving in the Middle East for more than three years, he was sent to take part in the invasion of Italy in June 1943.

The Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre said he seemed to have been captured around Tobruk in North Africa later that same month and was imprisoned by the Italians at Fara in Sabina, near Rome.

In September 1943 Tpr Stobart escaped alongside Pte Quinn. They headed north but were caught by the Germans within a few days.

According to reports at the time, both men were shot while trying to escape from transport taking them to a new camp.

Pte Quinn was taken to hospital but Tpr Stobart died.

He was buried in a civilian cemetery at Monte Libretto by two German soldiers, a local policeman and four other prisoners.

After the conflict his remains were moved to the war cemetery at Bolsena where he was buried as an unknown casualty, with a date of death in September 1943.