The city of Arnhem and Operation Market Garden are inextricably linked.
Operation Market Garden, which took place in September 1944 was the largest airborne offensive in the Netherlands and aimed to end World War II and liberate the Netherlands as quickly as possible.
On Sept. 21, 1944, over 1,000 Polish paratroopers landed just outside Arnhem. They held out against the German occupiers for several days before receiving reinforcements from the British.
During the night of September 25-26, the Poles evacuated over 2,500 British from the north side of the Rhine River to the south side in one night. This marked the end of Market Garden, but the fight to the final liberation continued for another 7 months.
Operation Market Garden in the Arnhem region is commemorated on an annual basis, including the dropping of British and Polish paratroopers from original Dakota aircraft.
In the photo we see one of them: not a paramilitary as many of us often envision, but a charming, modern, female Pole. In the Netherlands we call this: "real Girlpower!".
The contrast between her modern appearance and the outfit she was wearing really appealed to me and immediately caught my attention after her air landing.
It therefore became for me a special photograph of a "contemporary hero."