World War II veterans are preparing to revisit Arnhem this month with support from the Big Lottery Fund's "Heroes Return" scheme.

It has been allocated £10m and has so far helped over 2,600 of the South's veterans, widows, spouses and carers to visit the battlefields.

The Arnhem commemoration this month is part of the 60th anniversary of Operation Market Garden.

Troops were sent in to secure a line of bridges ending at the Dutch town in preparation for the Allied advance into western Germany.

Isolated British and Polish soldiers fought one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the war, engaging the 9th SS Panzer Division.

There were 1,130 casualties and 6,450 men were taken prisoner.

Ronald Nutley (82), of St Martin's Close, Winchester, says he has only just begun to feel able to talk to people about what he experienced at Arnhem.

Thanks to the help of his daughter, Sandy O'Neil, he has been able to recount memories that he had kept locked away, unable to share them with even his loved ones.

He has returned to the battlefield before and is making a special effort this year. He will be accompanied next Thursday, September 16th, by Sandy, his wife, June, and fellow veteran, Jack Middleton (89), of Teg Down, Winchester, who was not at Arnhem but served in the Parachute Regiment.

"There are lots of my comrades buried at Arnhem and I go back there to pay my respects to them and to my captain who is buried there," said Ronald. "I remember the day he was killed in action, on September 20th. I was in Arnhem for about 10 days. We were only supposed to be there for 48 hours, but I was taken prisoner."

He was a PoW for 11 months and remembers helping to build a railway in the prison camp. Not long after they finished building the railway, it was bombed and destroyed by the Allies.

Big Lottery Fund chief executive, Stephen Dunmore, said: "The fund is concerned that every veteran who might be able to make use of a Heroes Return grant should apply for one. The grants come from good causes-money contributed by people buying National Lottery tickets and we know that spending on Heroes Return has tremendous public support."

If people would like to revisit a place where they or a relative served during WWII, they may ring the Heroes Return hotline, 0845-4102030, to discuss claiming a grant.