People attend the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in the village of Bobrovka in the Omsk Region, Russia on May 9, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)

The number of soldiers on both sides of WWII that were killed or went missing is just staggering. Now, the mystery surrounding one RAF pilot and what happened to him and his plane has been solved after 70 years. RAF flight Sergeant Dennis Copping climbed into his Kittyhawk P-40 aircraft in June 1942 to fly the plane to another airbase for repairs. He was never seen or heard from again.

A scene showing one of the first trench battles is prepared for the opening of the 3D Panorama exhibition “Memory talks. The road through war” in the former Sevcabel port in St. Petersburg, Russia, 16 September 2019. Various 3D dioramas – containing genuine wartime items such as aircraft, tanks and artillery in original size – allow visitors to walk through scenes from the beginning to the end of WWII without any museum barriers. The exhibition opens from 19 September 2019 to May 2020. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA/EFE)

Accused Nazi criminal John Demjanjuk wears sunglasses as he arrives for his trial at a court room prior to the assumed verdict on May 12, 2011 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Mil Mi-8 combat helicopter flies over Moscow, Russia on May 7, 2019 during the dress rehearsal of a Victory Day air show marking the 74th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, the Eastern Front of World War II. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/TASS)

A girl, named Tata and aged 8, wears a Red Army uniform-styled dress during the celebrations of Victory Day, which marks the 78th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2023. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

Replicas of Joseph Stalin uniforms are offered to tourists who can rent them and wear them for a picture outside Stalin's bunker in Samara, Russia, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018. Stalin's secret WWII bunker has become the unlikely meeting point for thousands of cheerful fans who have arrived to the city during the World Cup days. (Photo by Luis Andres Henao/AP Photo)

Factory landlord Lawrence Taylor (L), portraying a Colour Sergeant from the King's Royal Rifle Corps, part of the Rifles Living History Society, performs a drill with Connor Young (R) of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Living History Group as they recreate the life of a First World War soldier at the Eden Valley Museum in Edenbridge in southeast England May 10, 2014. Lawrence has always had an interest in military history and specifically “The Rifles” – his veteran father's WWII regiment. When he became a re-enactor he chose not to re-enact WWII as many of the veterans are still alive, and he felt uncomfortable as he remembers his father would have flashbacks and nightmares about the war. United by a fascination with military history and a fondness for dressing up, groups such as the Rifles Living History Society and the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Living History Group get together to recreate aspects of life during the First World War. Reuters photographer Luke MacGregor photographed members of the groups, both as they took part in living history events and at their day jobs. (Photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters)