In the town of Oosterbeek, thousands of people have attended the commemoration of the soldiers killed in and around Arnhem during the World War II operation Market Garden.

As part of the operation, thousands of British and Polish paratroopers were dropped near the city of Arnhem to seize and temporarily hold the bridge across the river Rhine there. At the same time, US paratroopers were dropped near bridges across the rivers Waal and Meuse further south to allow allied forces in Belgium to march on Arnhem, relieve the allied forces there and secure the bridge. Had it succeeded, the operation would have allowed the allies to bypass the fortifications on the Franco-German border, cross the Rhine and directly attack the German industrial heartland in the Ruhr region.

Dutch Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop and his UK counterpart Bob Ainsworth attended the commemoration, as well as at least 120 veterans of the battle. About 1,750 British and Polish soldiers lie buried in the Oosterbeek cemetery. As part of the commemoration, tens of thousands of people watched Dutch and British paratroopers jump from Hercules transport planes at the site of the original airborne landings.