A SMALL town in Holland is planning a major celebration for the 70th anniversary of its liberation from war-time domination by the Germans.

And local organisers are trying to trace relatives of a Blackburn officer who fought in the battle.

In September next year the town of Nuenen will mark the anniversary with church services, brass bands, a candle-lit march, a display of Second World War vehicles, and speeches.

Several American and British troops were killed as Nuenen was liberated in 1944, in the early exchanges of Operation Market Garden, which later culminated in the battle for Arnhem.

Lt Julius Cobb of the Pioneer Corps was one of those involved in the fighting. He was a tailor before the war and lived with his wife Mona in Trinity Street, Blackburn.

He was 28 in late 1944 as the Allies pushed on from the D-Day landings.

Local historian Tony Foster has been contacted by researchers in Holland and he has found that Lt Cobb, son of master tailor Samuel Cobb, had married weaver Mona Haworth in January, 1934, at Blackburn Register Office.

They had twin sons the following year, Julian and Joseph, who died when only a few days old and a daughter Winifred who died aged nine. in 1944.

Lt Cobb returned to his trade as a tailor after the war and in the early 50s he was in Higher Audley Street, Blackburn. He died in Accrington in 1963 and had been landlord of the Antley Inn in Blackburn Road.

His wife died in May, 1969, at her home in Whittaker Street, Blackburn, and her death was registered by her sister Catherine who had married Harold Dean in 1941. They had two children, Malcolm born in 1934 and Ian, born in 1941.

Ian Dean married Jean Bolton in 1963 and they had at least one child, Gary John, born in 1964.

Tony said: “There are a lot of 70th anniversary celebrations in France and Holland at the moment and well into next year.

“Everyone there realises the debt they owe to Great Britain and the Allies and will certainly make any descendants of those who fought for their freedom very welcome.”

Tony can be contacted on 0161 7642821 or by email ga.foster@ btopenworld.com n Impressionist Vincent van Gogh lived in Nuenen in the mid 1880s and painted his famous The Potato Eaters there. The town has a van Gogh museum.