A British soldier who was killed as he stormed a German-held hill in southern Italy during the Second World War will finally be laid to rest almost 75 years after his death.

Lance Corporal Ronald George Blackham, of the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards, was just 22-years-old when he was killed during a fierce battle on 25 September 1943 near Salerno.

His remains were found in February 2014 in a shallow grave near the village of Capezzano by a group of voluntary military historians.

Ammunition from an Enfield rifle and the Coldstream Guards cap badge indicated the remains were of a British soldier, and after the Ministry of Defence tracked down his brother Douglas a DNA test confirmed his identity.

Lance Corporal Blackman’s younger sister Alma Williams, 80, said the discovery of the remains was the first official confirmation that her brother had died, and had left her “speechless”.

“Our first thoughts, my brother and I, we thanked God at last he’s not roaming the world not knowing who he is, and at last they’ve found him,” she said.

“It’s just amazing, it’s shock. It’s turmoil in your brain – you don’t know whether you’re coming or going, whether it’s true or whether it’s false.”

Mrs Williams and 18 other members of his family, including two-year-old great-grand-nephew Conan, have travelled to Salerno to see him buried at the war cemetery, along with the remains of two other unknown Coldstream Guards soldiers found nearby.

The lance corporal’s nephew, Michael Blackham, said his father Douglas, who at 91 is too ill to attend, thought the letter from the MoD saying they had found his brother’s body was a “wind-up”.

“We all thought it was like looking for a needle in a haystack because there were thousands of people killed,” he said.

“So we were really surprised and extremely pleased to find out it was him after all these years.”

The life of Lance Corporal Ronald George Blackham

• Born in Weaverham, near Northwich in Cheshire, on 6 October 1920, the eldest of four boys and two girls;
• After leaving school, worked for the Imperial Chemical Industry until he joined the army, enlisting at 19 in the Coldstream Guards, in June 1940;
• Shortly after the Allies landing on the Salerno beaches in southern Italy in September 1943, the Coldstream Guards were brought in to mount an attack on Hill 270, north of Salerno;
• No 1 company – including L/Cpl Blackham – and No 3 company of the 3rd Battalion began advancing from the nearby Capella Ridge, but as they left the sheltered woods German machine gunners opened fire;
• During the battle the Guards suffered 120 casualties – including L/Cpl Blackham.

Despite being just six when he died, Mrs Williams remembers her brother as a tall man of 6ft 4in who kept pigeons and enjoyed snooker and football with friends.

She recalled how a man on a bike came to the house to deliver the fateful news.

“I was with mum at the front door, she opened this envelope and collapsed on the stairs with a stroke after reading it – ‘missing presumed dead’,” said Mrs Williams.

“For the simple reason, she knew what had happened.

She continued: “Apparently the week before she had had a dream, that she was swimming in a river with Ron and the water was red, and she said: ‘Something’s happened to my lad.’

“I had to go and get dad out of bed. He came and carried her up the stairs and she didn’t speak for six weeks.”

Now, more than 70 years later, L/Cpl Blackham’s burial will finally bring peace to the family.