2. 5. 2019 The RAF pilot was buried after 74 years

After more than seventy years, Ensign John Henry Coates' relatives were finally able to bury his body. An RAF pilot was shot down during one of the missions in Italy. Archaeologists have found his remains with a damaged Spitfire plane near Venice.

The young war hero, who died after shooting down his Spitfire near Venice, Italy, was finally dignifiedly buried in 2019. This happened after 74 years, when the body was discovered by archaeologists. Ensign John Henry Coates of the 111th Squadron was declared missing after his RAF plane crashed near the village of Cavarzere in March 1945.

Seven decades later, he only received a military funeral, which was attended by two dozen distant relatives. However, his immediate family has already died. Sadly, they didn't know where the 24-year-old York soldier was killed.

However, it now became clear that Coates had been involved in the bombing of boats moored on the canal at dawn when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. His name was then engraved on the Maltese War Memorial, which contains 2,298 names of soldiers who lost their lives around the Mediterranean Sea and do not have a known grave.

It was in October 2017, when the identity of the fallen soldier was revealed by members of the Romagna Air Finders organization, which recovers aircraft from World War II. They published information about finding the body. They wanted to find the relatives of a fallen soldier. When one of the relatives saw the story in the local paper, the Coates family finally learned how and where he died.

"Me and my siblings grew up knowing that our uncle disappeared at the end of World War II. It is absolutely amazing that the uncle's body was found by archaeologists even after so many years. Finally, we can bury him with dignity, "said niece Helen Watts (65). "Unfortunately, none of his siblings, including my mother, survived that day. They would be excited, "added the woman.

Coates had no children, but three brothers and three sisters. His remains were buried in the war cemetery in Padua. Born in 1921, he worked as a draftsman in York while living at home with his parents John and Eliza Coates. He later decided to volunteer for the RAF and trained as a pilot. In early 1945, the Spitfire Mark 1Xs flew with a 111 squadron. They had a base near Rimini.

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