Visit one of Second World War’s bloodiest battlefields

Operation Market Garden – immortalised in the 1970s film A Bridge Too Far – was aimed at cutting the war short by achieving a swift crossing of the Rhine at Arnhem and capturing Berlin by the end of 1944.

However, the plan failed when the Allies encountered stiffer resistance than expected. Many men were killed, among them soldiers of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

This September, exactly 71 years later, Battlefield Memorial Tours is to visit Holland on an anniversary pilgrimage.

Press spokesman John Phillpott said: “Of course, the operation was masterminded by Warwickshire’s most celebrated soldier, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

“It was designed to outflank the German defensive line known as the West Wall by establishing a bridgehead across the lower Rhine at the Dutch town of Arnhem.

“It was hoped that this would place the Allied armies at the threshold of the Ruhr and possibly bring the war to an early conclusion. Tragically, the German resistance was stiffer than expected, and the battle ultimately ended in failure for the Allies.”

The trip will be taking place September 16-21. For more information, visit www.battlefieldmemorialtours.co.uk or contact Brian Long on 01629 650780.