Page "Missing in action" Paragraph 18

As with MIAs from the First World War, it is a routine occurrence for the remains of missing service personnel killed during the Second World War to be periodically discovered.

Usually they are found purely by chance ( e. g. during construction or demolition work ) though on some occasions they are recovered following deliberate, targeted searches.

As with the First World War, in western Europe MIAs are generally found as individuals, or in twos or threes.

However, sometimes the numbers in a group are considerably larger e. g. the mass grave at Villeneuve-Loubet, which contained the remains of 14 German soldiers killed in August 1944.

Others are located at remote aircraft crash sites in various countries.