A series of services were held to mark 70 years since Operation Varsity, the largest airborne landing in the Second World War.

East Anglian Daily Times: Memorial service at Marks Hall to mark 70th anniversary of Operation VarsityMemorial service at Marks Hall to mark 70th anniversary of Operation Varsity (Image: Archant)

The operation saw 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand planes and gliders descend on the River Rhine to capture key crossings.

A short parade and service was held in Hamminkeln, Germany, to mark the anniversary and was attended by veterans, locals who recalled the operation as well as members of 2 Battalion the Parachute Regiment, based at Colchester Garrison.

One of the veterans Arnie Hutchinson, part of 7 Parachute Regiment, recalled his aircraft overshot the drop zone in trying to avoid the heavy enemy fire, and as a result he and his comrades then had to march and shoot to the intended drop zone.

He said: “It was grim, but some of us were lucky. I often think of friends who died as a young as 19 years old and here I am at 90.

East Anglian Daily Times: 16 Air Assault Brigade showing US troops their capabilities on a demonstration day. Some 1,000 soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade are on a eight-week exercise with their US Army counterparts in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Image of US and UK Paratroopers jumping out of a US C-130 over Sicily Drop Zone (DZ).16 Air Assault Brigade showing US troops their capabilities on a demonstration day. Some 1,000 soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade are on a eight-week exercise with their US Army counterparts in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Image of US and UK Paratroopers jumping out of a US C-130 over Sicily Drop Zone (DZ). (Image: Crown Copyright 2015: This image may be used for current news purposes only.)

“It was touch and go as to whether you were gonna get an extra 70 years or not.”

Veterans also gathered at Marks Hall, Coggeshall, which was used as an airbase during the war and has a memorial. The service there included a flypast of two Apache helicopters based at Wattisham.

Across the Atlantic members of 3 Battalion the Parachute Regiment, also based at Colchester’s Merville Barracks, marked the anniversary by carrying out a jump with their American counterparts at the start of an eight-week long training exercise at Fort Bragg.

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Shervington, 3 PARA’s Commanding Officer, said: “The world is an uncertain and menacing place and if we can create an allied force comparable to 70 years ago it offers our political leaders a strong tool to use.

“Across its history 3 PARA has done four combat jumps, of which three were in partnership with American airborne forces. The relationship we are building on this exercise is nothing new, we are simply dusting off the history books and writing a new chapter.”