A charity is offering two veterans and their carers the chance to stand with giants as British soldiers return to the scene of their finest hour. Second World War heroes will take centre stage to mark the 80th anniversary of Dutch Liberation next week.

And thanks to a spectacular victory over the Government, additional places are available. The fully-funded Taxi Charity for Military Veterans trip leaves Harwich on May 2 ahead of a spectacular last stand by the greatest generation.

Among the returning warriors will be Geoff Roberts, 100 in June, who took part in the Battle of Arnhem in 1944.

He will lead events held to commemorate the end of five-long years of occupation, which will see cheering children clutching bouquets of flowers and relatives of those who lived under invading Nazi rule mob heroes in what will likely be an emotional final salute.

The warrior was just 19 and a ­private in the 7th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers sent as part of a crack team sent to help to liberate the Netherlands.

Each year on May 4, the country observes a Day of Remembrance, followed a day later by a national celebration, where the Dutch people express their gratitude to those who ultimately secured their freedom.

This year will be especially poignant and Geoff wants to share what will probably final visit with a dwindling band of brothers. Now two other heroes have a chance.

Taxi Charity Vice President Dick Godwin said: “This trip means the world to the veterans. On May 5, Dutch Liberation Day, they’ll lead the military parade through Wageningen - where the German surrender was signed.

“Tens of thousands of people will line the streets, clapping, cheering, and thanking the men and women who helped free their country. The applause will be overwhelming. The atmosphere is electric, emotional, and unforgettable - and these veterans deserve every moment of it.”

This week Geoff helped win a funding fight with the Government after it promised to cough up cash to fund the trip, then refused, before the “betrayal” promoted a cast-iron assurance money would be given to the charity for this valedictory trip and D-Day commemorations in Normandy in June.

After days of flip-flopping the office of veterans minister Al Carns finally wrote to charities organising this year's commemorative sorties saying: “Noting the desire for clarity, it is not lost on the minister that there is a requirement to communicate even while we work this through. For the avoidance of any doubt and to provide some reassurance, the Ministry of Defence is absolutely committed to funding overseas travel for veterans.”

It means the Taxi Charity, which has been chauffeuring veterans from to Holland since 2012, can now lavish heroes with the all-expenses paid trip they deserve.

On September 17, 1944, Geoff flew from the UK alongside two pilots and 28 troops in a 30-seater Horsa glider towed by an RAF plane.

The braveheart - captured during the assault and held as a prisoner of war - was one of 765 men from the battalion dropped on to the Continent but by the end of the Battle of Arnhem 112 were dead, 76 evacuated back to ­Brtain and 577 reported missing.

During the bloody battle some 35,000 Allies valiantly fought the Germans for nine days in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. It resulted in the award of five Victoria Crosses, four of them ­posthumous, and is immortalised in the 1977 epic A Bridge Too Far directed by Richard Attenborough.

The film depicts Operation Market Garden, the doomed Allied operation, and features an all-star cast including Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, and Robert Redford.

Geoff, from Peterborough, Cambs, was captured by a German officer and told in perfect English: “For you the war is over”.

He was then sent to the POW camp Stalag 12 A and then Stalag IV-C where he was put to work as a slave in coal mines.

In 2019, at events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem, he met King Charles, then Prince of Wales, who asked the hero: “Did they take you somewhere ghastly?”

He said: “I told him, ‘Yes, down a bloody coal mine’.”

Geoff added: “We weren’t sure what sort of reception we would get because we dropped out of the sky and the place was wrecked within a week. We failed, and they paid a heavy price for us trying to liberate them, but they’re still greeting us now and thanking us, after all this time.”

The heroes will return to Britain on May 6.

* Veterans and carers who would like to travel on this extraordinary door to-door trip should email email info@taxicharity.org