Abingdon wartime glider pilot Peter Clarke OBE joined scores of other veterans to mark the 60th anniversary of the last major air assault of the Second World War.

Mr Clarke, 83, travelled to RAF Shawbury, near Shrewsbury, to commemorate the anniversary of Operation Varsity.

The biggest and most successful airborne operation ever, Operation Varsity took place on March 24, 1945, and landed 14,000 men on the east bank of the River Rhine to suppress German artillery and small arms fire.

Although a large number of assault gliders were used on D-Day and at Arnhem in 1944, Operation Varsity was unique, in that many of the Horsa glider pilots were RAF aircrew who had been drafted in to replace the number of Army glider pilots lost in action at Arnhem.

Mr Clarke, who became a solicitor after the war, initially served as a medic with 133 Airborne Field Ambulance before volunteering to be a glider pilot.

He received his wings in 1942 and flew a Horsa in the Arnhem operation as well as Varsity.

He said: "After a safe landing, I ran the first aid post before being captured. I was taken to Poland and marched back to Germany as the Germans retreated from the Russians. I was liberated by US troops."

Mr Clarke and his wife Jean were among 500 people who attended the commemorative service on March 20, which was followed by a fly-past and a military salute.

Do you have any memories of VE Day or VJ day celebrations? Write to John Chipperfield, Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 OEJ or e-mail him at john.chipperfield@nqo.com