A special annual service to remember members of a squadron based in Donington during World War Two takes place this Sunday (September 27).
The 1st Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers Arnhem Service is being held at 11am at St Mary and the Holy Rood Church in Donington.
There will be a short parade from the Market Place to the church starting at 10.30am for anyone who would like to take part.
The memorial service includes the presentation of the colours and the names of the fallen will also be read out.
In the church, Arnhem corner is a book of Remembrance with the Battle Honours earned in France, North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Holland. There will be wreath-laying followed by a bugler playing The Last Post.
The service then moves outside to the churchyard where wreaths are laid at the at the memorial beneath the Arnhem Oak Tree brought back as a sapling from the battlefields of Holland.
A spokesman for the organisers, said: “Everyone is very welcome to attend the service and refreshments are then served in the church hall.
“There is a display of photos and information about the soldiers who were billeted in Donington under going intensive training for the nine months before Operation Market Garden, depicted in the film A Bridge Too Far.
“Many of the soldiers did not return and are buried in the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in Oosterbeek near Arnhem, those with no known grave are remembered on the Memorial Panels at Groesbeek War Cemetery.”
If anyone has any stories or photos of the Parachute Regiment veterans to share, contact Edward via email at [email protected]
