FIREMAN Chris Hollis went back 60 years to discover the truth about the death of a Blackburn lad at Arnhem in 1944.

He met war veterans and travelled to Holland to piece together how Private Albert Stanley Hope, of the 16th Parachute Field Ambulance, was killed by a German sniper at the age of 24.

The result is a 40-page memorial booklet, entitled Stanley's Story, to ensure his service, and sacrifice, are not forgotten.

Chris, who lives in Edenfield, grew up in the knowledge that Stanley had been killed in the war, and that the film A Bridge Too Far was a portrayal of the battle in which he lost his life.

He said: "Stanley was my father Roland's cousin and was best man at my parents' wedding in August 1944, a month before his death. I didn't want him to be forgotten and decided to tell his story."

Stanley was the only child of Fred and Lilly Hope, who lived at 37, Whittaker Street, Blackburn. Before the onset of war he was employed at the Messrs J and R Astley textiles machinery factory, in Higson Street.

Following the creation of an airborne force by Churchill, Chris believes Stanley volunteered for the parachuting medical service in 1942 and thus became one of the very first para - medics'.

He trained for jumps at Ringway Airport and saw service in Sicily, Italy and North Africa, where he was mentioned in dispatches. During one mission his plane ditched in the Mediterranean.

Stan, along with his colleagues, spent an hour in the water before being picked up by a Greek destroyer.

While his section had expected to take part in the D-day landings, his military bosses had another mission in mind, and Stan was one of almost 6,000 men to land near Oosterbeek, eight miles from the bridge at Arnhem on September 17.

Chris has discovered that only 750 troops, mainly the 2nd Parachute Battalion, led by Lieutenant Colonel John D Frost, made it to the bridge.

Unfortunately, the area was held by more enemy fighters than first thought, including two SS Panzer divisions.

They captured it and held it for three days, before either being killed, or running out of ammunition, and taken into captivity. Stanley, it transpired, was one of those men.

Said Chris: "Eighty-one soldiers were killed and virtually all the remainder were wounded to one degree or another.

"I was a little stunned to discover that Stanley died not in the Oosterbeek perimeter, as I had thought, but actually at the bridge in the Battle of Arnhem.

"It was a sad, yet heroic death of an unarmed medic who was desperately trying to carry out his duties in what had become a hell on earth'."

It transpired that Stan was trying to rescue a wounded soldier on a stretcher when he died.

A single shot from the rear grazed the rear of his best pal and colleague, before hitting him in the back, killing him outright.

Stan lies in a war cemetery with 1,500 young men.

Chris has visited it, as well as the nearby river, where 2,400 troops were evacuated across the Rhine on September 26.

l Chris is trying to find out if Stan's name can be seen on any memorial - do any readers have any information?

If you want to read Stanley's Story, there is a copy in Blackburn Library.