A SERVICE being held at Tilshead will commemorate the founding of an elite regiment that fought in some of the most daring campaigns in the Second World War as well as the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy and Arnhem in the Netherlands.

The Glider Pilot Regiment Society, made up of the regiment’s remaining veterans, their relatives and friends, will be commemorating these anniversaries at the memorial stones in Tilshead on February 23.

The stones were dedicated to the foundation of the Glider Pilot Regiment and Parachute Regiment.

It marks many of the operations in which the regiment played a key role. D-Day and the Battle of Arnhem are the two which will be familiar to many, but the men of the regiment also took part in other operations in 1944 in Yugoslavia, Brittany, the South of France and Greece.

The Glider Pilot Regiment was formed in February 1942 and was made up of volunteers from other parts of the Army. Those who made it through the same aircrew selection process as used by the RAF, found themselves arriving in the regiment’s depot, which was at Tilshead.

It was here that the volunteers were put through extreme training and drilled on the parade ground. They were judged harshly on every aspect of their performance, and should they not meet the strict physical or presentation standards, they were returned back to their original unit.

Many did not make the grade and were sent packing before they ever had sight of a glider. Those who did make it through went on to an intensive course of flying training, and eventually took part in some of the most famous actions of the war.

While the regime at Tilshead was tough and in the view of some, unfair, many veterans said in later years that it prepared them for the experiences they endured during the rest of the war.

Members of the public are invited to meet from 10am onwards in Tilshead Village Hall. Refreshments will be available on arrival and after the service. Directions to the memorial stones will also be available in the village hall.