Operation Market Garden veteran lays wreath to commemorate 80th anniversary of Arnhem
A 99-year-old veteran has laid a wreath at a cemetery in the Netherlands during a memorial service for those who took part in Operation Market Garden.
Geoff Roberts is believed to be the only British veteran to have travelled to Arnhem for the commemorations this year, which mark the 80th anniversary of the operation.
Mr Roberts laid a wreath alongside the Princess Royal, who was representing King Charles.
Also at the event was the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker, and Air Marshal Johnny Stringer, the Deputy Commander of Nato's Allied Air Command.
The event took place at Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, with crowds of civilians and children bearing flowers gathered alongside military personnel and veterans to pay their respects.
Operation Market Garden was a bold, partially successful, nine-day combined air and land operation in the German-occupied Netherlands.
Market was the airborne phase and Garden was XXX Corps' attempt to link up with them.
The goal was to capture nine vital bridges at locations including Son, Veghel, Grave, Nijmegen, Oosterbeek and Arnhem.
The ceremony followed a number of other commemorative events that took place earlier in the week.
To honour the memory of the fallen paratroopers and glider-borne airborne soldiers, their modern equivalents repeated the jump.
This saw hundreds of Nato paratroopers drop into the Netherlands, with Gen Sir Roly Walker the first out of the door of an A400M Atlas.
Additionally, a Lancaster bomber from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) took to the skies over Arnhem to pay tribute to all those involved in Operation Market Garden.
It was not the first service for Mr Roberts, who attended another ceremony at Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery.
He handed on the Torch of Commemoration to the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, who commanded British forces holding the northern end of the bridge.
Princess Anne also attended a previous commemoration event, again representing the King and delivering a speech on behalf of His Majesty, at the Airborne Museum Hartenstein in Oosterbeek.
The museum used to be a hotel and served as the headquarters of the British 1st Airborne Division during the Battle of Arnhem.
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