Duxford collection hopes to tell story of Arnhem 80 years on
The Battle saw almost 1,500 airborne troops sacrifice their lives
A Cambridgeshire museum hopes it can share the importance of those who sacrificed their lives for their country 80 years ago.
Almost 1,500 British and Polish airborne troops died while serving in the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, in a bid to end war in Europe early by opening a door to Germany via the Netherlands.
Items including Victoria Crosses and the uniforms of those who fought in the conflict are on display at Imperial War Museum Duxford until Friday, September 27.
Ben Hill is one person who's helped put the collection together:
"I think it's a symbol of the defiance against the Nazi tyranny and it showed how well trained, fit and passionate they (airborne troops) were about what they were doing because they far surpassed anything a regular soldier would've been expected to do in that week," he said.
"These brave men have to be represented by us accurately for future generations.
"It's important we remember their stories, the achievements they achieved and make sure that's an honest and historically accurate representation of what they did."
What happened in the Battle of Arnhem?
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery devised a plan for airborne forces to capture key bridges in the cities of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem as part of 'Operation Market Garden'.
Alongside the Polish Parachute Brigade, 10,000 men from the British 1st Airborne Division landed 65 miles behind German forces.
But adverse weather conditions and heavy German opposition meant the plan field - 1,485 British and Polish airborne troops were killed or died of wounds, while 6,525 troops became prisoners of war.
Ben added: "We want to explain the airborne ethos, what it meant to become an elite airborne soldier, the history which is relatively new, and hopefully if we can enthuse people, it's something different."