SECOND World War veteran Gordon Roud was given the red carpet treatment when he returned to the Dutch town of Arnhem where he was shot and wounded.

The New Forest pensioner, pictured, was showered with affection by people anxious to show their gratitude for the way Allied troops fought to liberate their country.

A chance encounter with a pilot resulted in a flight over the famous bridge that came to symbolise Operation Market Garden, the codename of the daring raid.

Mr Roud, 79, of Lymore Lane, Keyhaven, was also presented with a photograph of the bridge during a visit to a local school.

"People came up to me in the street, shook my hand and expressed their thanks for what we did during the war," he said.

Mr Roud was among more than 16,000 paratroopers who were dropped into Arnhem in September 1944. Their objective was to gain control of eight bridges along the German-Dutch border and clear the way for an Allied advance into Germany. The operation ended in disaster after the troops were confronted by two German tank divisions.

Mr Roud was just 100 metres short of the Arnhem bridge, famously dubbed A Bridge Too Far, when he was shot in the head.

He was captured by the Germans and taken to a PoW camp near Dresden before being liberated by the advancing Russians who presented him with a box of 25 cigars.

On his return visit he stayed with a Dutch couple and their two daughters.

He said: "They took me all over the place, including to an airfield where I met a pilot who took me up in his monoplane. We flew over the Arnhem bridge.

"At one stage the pilot took his hand off the joystick and allowed me to fly the plane myself, which was a fantastic experience."