Four members of A Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion, Italy, 1943.

Left to right: Cpl Neville Ashley MM, L/Cpl Graham Scopes, Ptes Geoff Mitchell and Dick Maryan.

All four men fought at Arnhem the following year in September 1944. By then Ashley had been promoted to Sergeant and the other men fought in his section.

Pte Geoff Mitchell was wounded by 20mm cannon fire during the initial assault on the pill box on the bridge.

The remaining three were captured by the Germans after several days of hard fighting in the bridge area on Wednesday 20 September. Wounded and out of ammunition, Sgt Neville Ashley withdrew the five remaining men of his section into a store room built into the abutment of the road bridge, where they were attacked by German troops and forced to surrender.