Special service to honour Battle of Arnhem heroes

The fallen heroes of Operation Market Garden were remembered at a special commemoration service at Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Second World War veterans and their families were among those paying their respects to those who fought and died for the liberation of the Dutch in the ill-fated mission of September 1944.

Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne assault in history, saw thousands of allied troops parachute or land by glider behind enemy lines in a bid to carve a route into northern Germany and bring an early end to the war.

More than 10,000 Commonwealth and Polish troops were dropped at Arnhem in the southern Netherlands, with 1,500 killed and more than 6,500 captured.

At the cemetery, 1,770 soldiers are buried, including 1,650 British troops.

Oosterbeek was the village where British and Polish paratroopers battled to their final stand before withdrawing across the River Rhine on September 25 at the end of Operation Market Garden.

The nearby city of Arnhem saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the operation and it has become the focal point of a host of commemorative events marking its 75th anniversary in 2019.

The cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, was designed by architect Philip Hepworth.

Among those honoured at the cemetery are three men who were posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest honour for acts of bravery in wartime.

They are Lieutenant John Grayburn, Captain Lionel Queripel and gunner John Baskeyfield.

Picture: PA. Family and friends of Pte Stephen George Morgan, of 2 Para, attend an interment of ashes service at the Oosterbeek cemetery.