THE funeral of one of the veterans of the Battle of Arnhem was due to take place today.

The military funeral was celebrating Donald Sallis' contribution to the ill-fated massive airborne operation during the Second World War. He was one of the last surviving veterans of the battle.

Mr Sallis, of Malvern Link, died last Tuesday aged 78. The former long-distance lorry driver took part in the courageous action against the Germans in the Dutch town in September, 1944.

He was a member of the South Staffordshire Regiment, which was part of the British First Airborne Division.

The troops and paratroopers were dropped into Arnhem to capture the bridges, but suffered huge numbers of casualties because the strength of the Germans had been underestimated.

After holding the bridges for nine days, 1,500 men had been killed and thousands more were captured by the Germans. They had only been expected to resist for four days because of their lack of food, water and ammunition.

Failure

Fewer than 2,500 men returned from the battle, which was called Operation Market Garden.

Mr Sallis' daughter, Anne Newell, said he had been very angry by the failure of the operation.

"It all went drastically wrong, and that's why so many people were killed," she said.

"He thought it was a terrible thing that it went so wrong."

Mrs Newell said her father survived because he was hidden by a Dutch family, like many of the other survivors.

"He felt very lucky to have survived, and people had a lot of respect for him because of it," she said.

Mr Sallis lived in Malvern Link for 44 years, and was married to Nancy, who died five years ago. He lived in Coronation Road and was well known in the area.

"He had a fantastic sense of humour, and I was very close to him," said Mrs Newell, his only child.

"He was a very loving and caring father."

Mr Sallis' funeral is to take place at Upton Cemetery, with The Last Post planned to be played during the ceremony, and his medals displayed on his coffin.