Chance to visit Arnhem battlefield (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Chance to visit Arnhem battlefield

7:30am Sunday 10th June 2012 in Local

A RESEARCH group’s organisers are calling on Worcestershire people to join them on a pilgrimage to the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting to take place during the Second World War.

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 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 Worcestershire Regiment.

This September, exactly 68 years later, the Birmingham War Research Society is to visit Arnhem, Holland, the scene of so much sacrifice and suffering.

Organiser Alex Bulloch said: “After the break-out from Normandy came the spectacular drive to the Seine. Fierce fighting gave cover to the armoured drive to Belgium and Holland and after a spell of comparative quiet, the Worcestershires attempted to relieve the gallant men of Arnhem.

“This was some of the fiercest combat the regiment had experienced and in the fighting round the Nederijn, three of its company commanders were killed.”

The visit will be taking place September 21-25. For more information, contact Alex Bulloch MBE on 0121 4599008.