‘Stan’ Holden did parachute course 82 at RAF Ringway, 13 – 23 September 1943, with 591 Parachute Squadron, RE, which was part of the 6th Airborne Division. His Parachute Instructors comments: “Quiet, average type”.

In early 1944 he was posted to the 1st Parachute Squadron, RE, and finally he was posted to the 4th Parachute Squadron, RE in the Spring of 1944, where he was assigned to 3 Troop.

With them he took off from Spanhoe aerodrome in a Dakota aircraft, No 724, of the USAAF on Monday, 18 September 1944, and parachuted onto DZ ‘Y’ near Ede in Holland, as part of the Second Lift of Operation ‘MARKET’.

During the battle he was lightly wounded, and then on the withdrawal, he and a small group became separated from the rest of the Squadron column on the night of the withdrawal, and he was eventually taken prisoner. He was sent to Stalag 4B at Mühlberg, in Germany and given the POW No. 21819.

Read Stanley's detailed account of his wartime experiences here.