Hundreds of paratroopers have dropped out of near-cloudless skies over a heath in the central Netherlands to commemorate the 80th anniversary of one of World War II's most daring — but ultimately unsuccessful — missions,

Hundreds of NATO paratroopers dropped near Arnhem in the Netherlands, commemorating 80 years since one of the most renowned World War II operations. The Allied bid to secure a Rhine crossing proved "A Bridge too Far.

Hundreds of American and allied military personnel recreated the paratrooper jumps and river crossings of the failed World War II operation.

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.

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.

Hundreds of paratroopers dropped out of near-cloudless skies over a heath in the central Netherlands on Saturday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of one of World War II's most daring — but ultimately unsuccessful — missions,

Parachutists jump Saturday over Ginkel Heath, Netherlands, to mark the 80th anniversary of World War II's audacious but unsuccessful Operation Market Garden. Parachutists jump Saturday over Ginkel Heath,

King marks 80th anniversary of Second World War’s Operation Market Garden - Operation Market Garden aimed to push through the Netherlands and into Germany just a few months after the D-Day landings.