Paratroopers from eight Nato-member countries, including the UK, US, Portugal and Spain, parachuted from 12 aircraft into Ginkel Heath, a nature reserve near the Dutch town of Ede, on Saturday.
The event commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden, a manoeuvre intended to create a route for the allied forces into northern Germany in September 1944. The plan involved seizing key bridges with a combination of airborne forces – known as Market – with land forces – Garden – joining them.
While the operation succeeded in capturing the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen, it failed in its key objective – securing the bridge at Arnhem.