The airdrop is one of several events organised to mark the anniversary of Operation Market Garden, an ambitious military offensive designed to speed up the invasion of Nazi Germany and shorten the war in Europe. Among those who parachuted into the Netherlands were 1,900 allied airborne soldiers from Britain's 4th Parachute Brigade.

Paratroopers from eight Nato member countries, including the UK, USA, Portugal and Spain, parachuted from 12 aircraft into Ginkel Heath, a nature reserve near the Dutch town of Ede, to mark 80 years s

Eighty years after the landing of the airborne troops in September 1944, which was part of the Allied liberation operation Market Garden, the events will be commemorated on the Ginkelse Heide near Ede.

Eighty years after thousands of Allied airborne troops parachuted into the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in a daring military offensive their modern counterparts have made the same jump. Paratroopers from eight Nato member countries,

Hundreds of Nato troops and veterans of Operation Market Garden commemorated the 80th anniversary of the audacious plan which sought to bring a quick end to World War Two.