VETERANS who took part in a famous parachute drop are to meet up again on a former wartime airfield near Swindon.

Up to 160 men and women who once served with the RAF are expected to travel to Down Ampney for the 28th Arnhem Drop reunion and memorial service.

The airfield was once the home of two squadrons of Dakota aircraft which took part in the airborne invasion in 1944.

The Arnhem Drop by parachute and glider was aimed at capturing bridges over Dutch rivers near the German border to establish a bridgehead for invading Allied forces.

But things went badly wrong and out of 10,000 troops dropped behind enemy lines, only 2,400 escaped 1,200 were killed and more than 6,500 were taken prisoner.

The weekend reunion is being organised by the RAF Down Ampney Association.

Alan Hartley, the man responsible for putting it together, said he did not know exactly how many

people would be attending.

However, he did know that former pilot Duncan Martin would be travelling from Australia and would also be celebrating his 80th birthday on the first day of the reunion weekend on September 14 and 15.

Down Ampney airfield was opened in December 1943 as one of three local airfields to prepare the way for the D-Day landings.

The other two were at Broadwell, near Burford, and Blakehill Farm, near Cricklade.

They were home to a total of five Dakota Squadrons 512 and 575 at Broadwell, 48 and 271 at Down Ampney and 233 at Blakehill.

Early in September 1944 the Canadian Government removed all Canadians from the five squadrons and formed its own 437 RCAF Squadron, which was also based at Blakehill.

Mr Hartley served as a mechanic with 271 Squadron at Down Ampney and considers himself lucky to be alive.

He recalled: "Ground crews could fly with the Dakotas if we wanted to. During the first two days of Arnhem it was all very exciting and I said to my skipper that I would like to go over and have a look for myself.

But the arrangements fell through at the last minute and the aircraft I was going on was shot down with the loss of five crew, who are now buried in the cemetery at Arnhem.

"My life should have ended on September 19, 1944 and I count every day as a bonus."

Down Ampney aircrews suffered heavy casualties during the Arn-hem Drop after the Germans captured a dropping zone they were using, and then attacked the Dakotas as they flew in low in broad daylight without any fighter cover.

The veterans will be meeting on Saturday, September 14 for a reunion dinner at Swindon's Marriott hotel, and the following day will attend a special service at Down Ampney's All Saints Church.

Inside the church is a stained glass window in memory of Fl Lt David Lord, a Dakota pilot with 271 Squadron who was killed while on a mission over Arnhem.

He remained at the controls after ordering his crew to bale out after it was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross the only one in Transport Command.

After the church service the veterans will lay wreaths at a memorial on the airfield and a Dakota from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will also circle the airfield to pay tribute to all the people who served there.

Mr Hartley is also hoping that the Army's Red Devils parachute team will make a jump onto the airfield but this has not yet been finalised.

Most people only associate the Dakota squadrons with Arnhem and D-Day, but they were kept extremely busy after the initial airborne operations.

Flying from airfields in France and Belgium, the aircraft carried 100,000 casualties back to the UK.