Having been rained into the local church the year before, organiser Peter Yeates must have breathed a sigh of relief when last Sunday remained dry for the annual Double Hills Memorial in Paulton.
The event is always well supported by local residents and dignitaries, and this year was no exception, with over 300 attending. Transport to the site was provided by vintage wartime vehicles, with parades by personnel and standard bearers and a flypast of the Army Air Corps.
Wreaths were laid in remembrance and local children placed wooden crosses at the memorial, with a service taken by Rev. Guy Edwards and music by the Mendip Male Voice Choir and Ladies Choir, Westfield Voices.
The Director of the Double Hills Memorial, Peter Yeates, was just seven-years-old on the morning of 17th September, 1944 when he saw a great armada of planes and gliders on their way to Arnhem. A Horsa glider tragically crashed in a Paulton field (known as Double Hills), after an explosion within the aircraft, killing 21 Royal Engineers and two pilots on board. They are widely acknowledged as the first casualties of the ill-fated Operation Market Garden and Battle of Arnhem.
Commemorations at this site, which was assigned under Deed of Trust from HRH the Prince of Wales, have taken place since 1979.