Princess Anne leads tributes to WWII heroes as she lays a wreath on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem

Princess Anne has led tributes to the WWII heroes who fought in the Battle of Arnhem on the 80th anniversary of the daring mission.

The Princess Royal attended a ceremony at the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the Netherlands to lay a wreath on land close to the same landing zone used 80 years ago during Operation Market Garden.

She is representing King Charles III at the series of commemoration events taking place this weekend across the UK and at the scene of the famous battle which was immortalised in the all-star 1977 movie A Bridge Too Far.

Anne was joined by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence as she delivered her brother's speech at a reception staged at the Airborne Museum Hartenstein in Oosterbeek last night.

The events are commemorating the famous manoeuvre which intended to create a route for the Allied forces into northern Germany in September 1944.

Around 1,900 allied airborne troops from the 4th Parachute Brigade jumped from military aircrafts into the occupied Netherlands in an attempt to capture the bridges at Arnhem.

Anne said on behalf of the King: 'Eighty years ago, on this very weekend, Operation Market Garden was under way in this region of the Netherlands.

'An ambitious joint airborne and ground forces operation designed to seize crucial bridges to enable the advance into Germany, its ultimate aim was to end the war within a matter of months.

'The friendships made during those difficult days of September 1944 between the Dutch and their liberators continued after the war.

'I saw this for myself five years ago when, as Colonel in Chief of the Parachute Regiment, I attended the 75th anniversary commemorations.'

A handful of veterans who survived the intense nine-day battle witnessed the memorial service after watching paratroops from nine Nato nations jump into Ginkle Heath on the outskirts of Arnhem yesterday.

The 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team (16AABCT) were joined by paratroops from Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and the US on the anniversary of the daring mission.

The Red Devils, the British Army's freefall parachute team are also listed to jump.

Anne's speech on Saturday was delivered at the former hotel which served as the headquarters of the British 1st Airborne Division during the battle.

What was Operation Market Garden? Between September 17 and September 25, 35,000 British, American and Polish paratroops were dropped behind enemy lines in an audacious attempt to liberate the Netherlands and open up a route into the heart of Germany.

Operation Market Garden - which has been immortalised by the 1977 movie - A Bridge Too Far, saw some of the most intense fighting of the Second World War .

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery convinced the Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight Eisenhower that Operation Market Garden could finish the war in Europe by Christmas by leapfrogging German defences and capturing key bridges across the River Rhine, opening up the road to Berlin .

American troops from the US 101st Division would target Eindhoven and the bridges over canals and rivers to the north of the town. At the same time, the US 82nd Division would seize bridges in Nijmegen as well as occupying the Groesbeek Heights to the east of the city.

The British 101st Airborne Division along with the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade would drop into Arnhem - the most crucial bridge crossing the Lower Rhine.

Meanwhile, tanks from Britain's 30 Corps would blast their way across Holland to provide support to the paratroops at Arnhem.

Unlike the D-Day invasion, where gliders and paratroopers dropped directly onto crucial bridges behind the invasion beaches under the cover of night, British troops heading to Arnhem parachuted up to nine miles from the target bridge in broad daylight - losing the element of surprise.

Due to a shortage of transport planes, troops were dropped over the course of several days and were faced by large numbers of German mechanised infantry and tanks - including two Panzer divisions which had not been seen by army intelligence.

The British troops had been told they would have to hold out for 48 hours until the arrival of 30 Corps. By the time they were ordered to retreat, nine days later, some 1,600 British soldiers lay dead and almost 6,500 had been captured.

Five Victoria Crosses were awarded - four more than on D-Day. Four of the five VCs for Market Garden were awarded posthumously.

The armoured advance through Belgium towards Holland and the objective at Arnhem has hampered by well-organised German infantry.

Within a few miles, nine British tanks had been knocked out by German infantry firing handheld Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons.

The US 101st Division liberated the Dutch city of Eindhoven on September 18, but the Germans had managed to destroy several bridges in the region to slow down the rate of advance. That same day British troops, who were dug in along the north of the bridge at Arnhem were coming under heavy fire from German massing on the south side ahead of 48 hours of counter attacks.

As the Germans advanced on the bridge at Arnhem, Allied resupply drops to the paratroops on the ground were falling into enemy hands - further reducing the fighting effectiveness of the British troops who were running out of food, ammunition and medical equipment.

Bad weather prevented the Allies from taking advantage of their overwhelming air superiority, which left troops on the ground open to counter attack.

British armour had to come to a halt some eight miles from Arnhem as they lacked infantry support to advance to the town.

Poor weather was still hampering re-supply efforts and on September 20, the Germans agreed for a temporary truce to allow the evacuation of badly wounded British troops in the village of Oosterbeek - to the west of Arnhem where elements of the 1st Airborne Division were holding out.

The following day, the 30 Corps armour were in Nijmegan - south of Arnhem - and were able to provide artillery support to the troops holding out in Oosterbeek - but did not have the range to cover the elements of the Parachute Regiment in Arnhem.

That evening, the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade under Major -General Stanislaw Sosabowski dropped into Driel - where they came under heavy fire. Several aircraft were shot down while others were forced to return to Britain.

By September 22, only a handful of Polish troops linked up with the British in Oosterbeek.

On September 24, a further truce allowed the allies to evacuate a further 1,200 wounded British and Polish troops who were taken into German captivity.

In total, the 1st Airborne Division had around 1,800 men left from their original complement of 10,000. It is estimated that 1,485 British and Polish airborne troops had been killed or died of their wounds during the battle. More than 6,500 had been taken prisoner.