"While I was there, I began to understand - to really understand - the enormity of it all and the dangers the men faced."
I'm retired. I'm interested in old military vehicles and machinery. I have a wife, son and daughter, all residing in the Potteries area since the early 80s. I've enjoyed visiting the USA and Europe and have compiled some small books relating to my hobbies.This year being the 60th anniversary of most of the major battles on European soil it will probably be the last year of such events. Inside Lives was stimulating and interesting.
When a pal you haven't seen for quite a while asks you: what are you doing next week? alarm bells ring. Aye aye, what's coming next? I was relieved and delighted when it turned out that he was offering to take me on a low cost visit to Arnhem in a WWII vehicle. Over the last few years I've made more than half a dozen guided tours of Normandy and the Ardennes, as I have long had an interest in European battles during WWII. The guided 'whistlestop' tours are very good, but they don't give you enough time or a real insight into the battles themselves. THIS tour would give me a much better chance to find out what really happened. I'd get to talk to people who were there: the veterans and the local people and I was hoping that history would come to life for me. The Battle of Arnhem was a daring attempt to shorten the war, but it was planned on too short a time scale and there was a serious shortage of equipment. The men couldn't communicate with each other because their radios weren't tuned in properly. They were sitting ducks. About 8 out of 10,000 men were either killed, captured or wounded at Arnhem. While I was there, I began to understand - to really understand - the enormity of it all and the dangers the men faced. This 'front row' view of what happened in September 1944 gave me a better insight than any history book could do. With every step I felt I was getting closer to the past. | 
