Vitesse commemorate 70th anniversary of 1st Airborne's part in the Battle of Arnhem

Club wore Division colours and revealed a huge banner

Tom Sheen
Monday 22 September 2014 17:13 BST
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Vitesse Arnhem
Vitesse Arnhem (Twitter)

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Eredivisie club Vitesse Arnhem held a special commemoration for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem at the weekend.

The club, who were eventually held to a 1-1 draw with Herenveen, wore the claret and blue colours of the 1st Airborne Division and unveiled a huge banner.

Previously the club have invited members of the Division, who liberated the town from the Nazis in 1944, to watch matches.

One such man was John Peters who has recently passed away - the banner seen at the weekend represented Peters' visit to the GelreDome a couple of years ago.

For this season Vitesse have decided to adopt a claret and blue away kit but sported the colours for this home time - the shirt holds the slogan 'Lest We Forget' under the number.

Three Chelsea loanees were involved in this match, with Wallace playing the full 90 minutes, Bertrand Traore coming on as a substitute and Josh McEachran named to the bench.

The cub invited veterans from the 1st Airborne Division to the 1-1 draw with Herenveen on Saturday
The cub invited veterans from the 1st Airborne Division to the 1-1 draw with Herenveen on Saturday

The 1st Airborne lost nearly three-quarters of their strength during the battle, part of Operation Market Garden, and did not see combat again.

The battle was popularised in the Richard Attenborough film, A Bridge Too Far.

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