WORLD War Two veteran Arthur Sobey was moved to tears as he watched Dutch children pay tribute to his fallen comrades who died fighting to liberate their country.

Mr Sobey (84), of Barton-upon-Humber, looked on with tears in his eyes as he watched the children of Arnhem take part in a poignant ceremony.

He served with the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment during Operation Market Garden and parachuted into Nazi occupied Holland on Sunday, September 17, 1944.

Sixty years on, he returned to Arnhem to mark the anniversary and was struck by the steadfast gratitude of the Dutch people at a moving service at the war cemetery at Oosterbeek.

Local children carrying flowers filed into the cemetery to stand beside the graves of fallen soldiers.

The flower children first raised their bouquets towards the congregation of 50,000, then turned to face the grave and whispered the name written on the headstone, thinking about the person lying there and the sacrifice they made.

Mr Sobey said seeing the flower children at the graveside was ‘very emotional’. “They are great, aren’t they?” he said. “It just brings tears, doesn’t it? I just can’t help it.”

One Dutch youngster, Mark Filippo, of Renkum, said he was responsible for the grave of Lt Clarkson, who was a paratrooper.

“When I am here, I think about the history and what happened. When I hold the flowers above my head I am giving thanks for freedom,” he said.

The 11-year-old added: “I thought about how young the soldiers were when they died.”

Rien Van Ommeren, headteacher of the Paasbergschool in Oostebeeck, said it was important the children were told about how the Allied soldiers had tried to liberate the Dutch people.

“The history of our country is written down in books,” he said. “The children have to learn it. Part of it is Operation Market Garden.

“This battle was lost, they didn’t succeed in gaining the bridge back from the Germans.”

He said he thought the children were aware freedom was the best thing they could have.

“The commemoration will continue every year,” he said. “We can tell them what happened here.”

One of his pupils, Chantal Van Binsbergen (11), said: “Freedom is very important for me. The invasion of the British and Polish soldiers made us free. The soldiers helped us during the war and got back our freedom.”

Classmate Marleen de Waal (11) agreed the Dutch now had their freedom because of men like Mr Sobey. “The veterans have fought for us and freedom,” she said. “They should be honoured by Dutch children and people.”

Mr Sobey travelled from his Barton-upon-Humber home to Arnhem to mark the 60th anniversary, on a special trip organised by P &O Ferries and the Arnhem and Nijmegen Regional Tourist Board, to honour veterans.

Five veterans from Yorkshire and Humberside were in the party, and they were the guests of the Scandic Sanadome Hotel, in Nijmegen, and the veterans agreed the staff had made their stay very special.

From the Scunthorpe Telegraph on Wednesday, September 22, 2004.