Red Devils join tribute to fallen Arnhem soldiers

An oak tree sapling has been planted as part of a ceremony to honour fallen soldiers who died in the Netherlands.

The Arnhem Oak dedication ceremony took place at Woodhall Spa Cricket Ground, representing those who trained in Lincolnshire for Operation Market Garden in World War Two.

The sapling was grown from an acorn collected beside the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the Netherlands, where 1,764 allied servicemen are buried.

Colonel Andy Wareing, from the Red Devils, the Parachute Regiment's display team, which put on a display, said: "We're here to remember those brave service people who were deployed all those years ago."

Operation Market Garden was an airborne operation in 1944 designed to secure the River Rhine crossings and advance into northern Germany during the war.

The Parachute Regimental Association (PRA) said many of the airborne forces were stationed in Lincolnshire, including Woodhall Spa, before the operation.

The remembrance event held earlier included the PRA, Royal British Legion and local schools.

Displays of military vehicles were part of the event, along with speeches and participation from schools in the "Flower Children" tradition of Oosterbeek, where Dutch children tend the graves of the fallen.

Wareing, the Red Devils' assistant colonel commandment for the north of England, said: "It's an enormous privilege. The tributes should go to all those hardworking people who arranged the event."

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