Travelling to Arnhem, I was in the hands of the law. Our guide for a weekend battlefield tour was PC Willie Mohan, at 55, the oldest bobby on the beat in London. But the battles of the two world wars are Willie’s real passion.

“Being a policeman and being a tour guide-it’s all about communication and getting a reaction - a positive reaction, I hope. As a typical Irishman I love blathering away and my entire raison d’être for doing this is remembrance. I want to put it across with as much passion as I can that these were the finest of their generation.”

And there’s certainly plenty of passion as Willie, in his heavy Northern Irish brogue, digs deep into his huge reserve of wartime anecdotes to transport us all back to September 1944 when, for the 1st Airborne division, the battle of Arnhem was simply a bridge too far.

Montgomery’s daring plan-code, named Operation Market Garden, was to drop troops behind enemy lines to take back the vital bridges over the Rhine. But no-one anticipated the strength of the German resistance.

“Montgomery was holding an officer briefing and Lft. General Sir “Boy” Browning was looking at this marvellous plan and he’s alleged to have said to Montgomery “Sir, I think we may be going a bridge too far here”. He denied saying it afterwards but the story has stuck.”

Willie invites our small group to sit on the base of the cross of remembrance in the Oosterbeek cemetery to listen to his tour introduction. He insists it’s not irreverent-the lads wouldn’t want us to stand on ceremony.

A former Para himself, Willie feels a huge bond with the soldiers who fought here. A bear of a man, you just know if he’d been born 20 years or so earlier, he would gladly have been with the boys at Arnhem. His commentary, peppered with expletives, is not for the faint hearted but for him it’s just swearing like a paratrooper.

As we walk several kilometers to the landing grounds, we imagine the whole sky filled with parachutes and gliders -10,000 soldiers came in, only 1,800 were to go home.

Willie’s vivid re-telling of the “Homeric” bravery of some of the men is extremely moving. He shows a photo of a fresh faced young officer, Flight Lft David “Lummy” Lord. Lord flew his blazing Dakota round again and again, shredded by anti-aircraft fire, to complete a vital supply drop before his plane exploded in flames. He was awarded a posthumous VC. Willie’s eyes mist up as he finishes the story: “A great man…”

The legendary bridge in Arnhem, rebuilt, is now called the John Frost Bridge after the Lieutenant Colonel who led the assault and held out to the last man before surrendering.

We’d all seen the Attenborough film, A Bridge Too Far. Willie’s pretty scathing about it but he tells a good tale about how John Frost was brought in as an advisor during filming.

“Frost stopped Anthony Hopkins during one scene of heavy German gunfire and told the actor not to run from house to house. “We never ran. We always walked - to show contempt for the Germans and to inspire the men”.

Willie Mohan runs tours to most of the major battlefields of the two great wars. He says there’s a renewed interest in tracing family members and he’s always happy to help locate graves and arrange a visit as part of the tour.

His next trip is with a group of Australian advertising executives and then after that a twenty strong stag party from London. They’ll probably have a riot, but then the brave men of Arnhem will no doubt be with them in spirit.

Willie’s tours: www.wm-tours.com

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