A Manchester Pilot's Bridge Too Far
It is the 75th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Arnhem
Last updated 16th Sep 2019
September 17th 1944: The British airborne invasion of Arnhem and Eindhoven in the Netherlands began as part of Operation Market Garden.
The objective was to secure a bridge over the Rhine to as part of an Allied invasion of Germany, but after a battle which lasted until September 27, the attempt failed.
Edwin Pickford from Gorton was a glider pilot and he died of his wounds on September 27th 1944. He was aged just 25.
He was just one of the brave young victims of this failed attempt.
Eddie was the pilot of the first glider plane to land at Normandy on D-Day.
Three months after D-Day Operation Market Garden was launched to advance on Germany.
It involved flying paratroopers behind enemy lines and taking eight strategic bridges along the German border with the Netherlands.
It could have brought an end to the Second World War more quickly, but it was a tactical defeat.
Ten thousand went into battle - but only 2,400 returned with more than 1,500 killed and the remainder wounded or captured.
This video tells Eddie's story through a series of letters, pictures and personal belongings which had been kept by his heartbroken parents.