Events for 80th commemoration of wartime paratroopers
A series of talks, parades and services are to be held this weekend to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem and remember the paratroopers billeted at local camps.
First up, on Friday at 7pm at All Saints’ Church, Somerby, is an illustrated talk about wartime planes, pilots and paratroopers from the Somerby area.
It’s titled Flying Foxhunters and tickets cost £10. Presenter is Jeremy Heygate.
Somerby Memorial Hall opens for refreshments at 10am on Saturday ahead of a talk at 11.30am by Davinia Bates about her time living in the village during the Second World War. A film of the 70th Somerby paratroopers commemoration will also be shown.
Later on Saturday, at 5pm, there will be a march down to the 10th Battalion Memorial at Burrough on the Hill for the annual ‘going down of the sun’ service or remembrance, wreath laying and unveiling of a new memorial to the USAAF 315TGC.
Food and drinks will be served in a marquee at 6pm at the nearby Get Busy Living Centre.
The annual Arnhem parade and service will be held in Somerby on Sunday.
The parade forms at 10.15am and moves off 15 minutes later.
The remembrance service starts at 11am in All Saints’ Church, followed by The Salute.
Refreshments will be served in the Memorial Hall after the service.
Go to www.friendsofthetenth.co.uk to find out more about the Friends of the Tenth, a charity dedicated to perpetuating the memory of the local wartime paratroopers and the stone sculpture which stands at Burrough.