Hundreds of paratroopers leap to mark daring WW2 offensive

Eighty years after hundreds of Allied soldiers parachuted from military aircraft into Nazi-occupied Netherlands as part of a daring World War Two offensive, their modern equivalents repeated the jump in commemoration.

In an airborne spectacular, 700 paratroopers from eight Nato nations – including the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and the US – parachuted from 12 aircraft.

The jump was done in two waves, and those involved landed at the same location at Ginkel Heath, near the Dutch town of Ede.

Among them were members of the parachute display team, the British Red Devils.

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.