The BBC's Mike Donkin reports from the funeral that was half a century late

They included Corporal George Froud, whose family only learnt that his remains had been discovered days before the service.

His body was found last year in a Dutch doctor's garden where he crash-landed in September 1944.

An initial search by the Ministry of Defence had failed to trace Cpl Froud's relatives, but his son was traced after a last minute appeal by the BBC.

Captain Harry Jongen explains how the army identified Cpl Froud's body

Builder Terry Marsh, 57, was at the funeral although Terry's mother Vera was unable to attend.

Corporal Froud's remains were discovered last year

Mr Marsh was there to see his father laid to rest alongside Sergeant Lawrence Howes and Sergeant David Thompson, of the Glider Pilot Regiment, whose bodies were found in 1994 in Sonnenburg.

Sheila Philbrook, the sister of Sgt Howes, was also there to see the burial.

She had previously been visiting the grave in which she thought her brother lay.

But this grave in fact contained the remains of an unknown soldier.

Her brother's body only came to light in January 1994 after a friend had come across an announcement about a ring with her brother's initials in a veterans' magazine.

The ring - discovered when the Netherlands Army came across remains of unknown soldiers - bore her brother's initials.

A colonel from the Ministry of Defence came to see Ms Philbrook.

"He had to tell me that the ring was actually on my brother's hand, so therefore the soldier in the grave wasn't my brother at all."

The hour-long service took place at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Oosterbeek near Arnhem.

It was conducted by the Rev Peter Howson, armed forces assistant chaplain general.

Terry Marsh sees his father buries

The UK's ambassador to the Netherlands also spoke at the service.

Men currently serving with the army made up the pall bearers for the three soldiers.

After the bodies were lowered into the ground, relatives of the three men laid wreaths at the graveside, as did veterans of the regiments that fought at Arnhem.

The service ended with the national anthems of the Netherlands and the UK.

The three soldiers are laid to rest

Cpl Froud joined the army in 1931 as a 14-year-old boy soldier.

During his 13-year service he was awarded the Palestine Medal in 1940, the 1939-43 Star, the War Medal 1939-1945, and the Defence Medal Italy Star.

He was posted missing on 21 September 1944, but his remains were a surprise discovery in July 1997, unearthed during building work in a garden near Oosterbeek.

Captain Harry Jongen of the army unit responsible for identifying soldiers missing in action in the Netherlands, said it had been very easy to identify Corporal Froud's body.

The Netherlands Army knew that three men had gone missing in action in the area, and the army had been able to identify Cpl Froud through his dental records.

A number of items bearing Cpl Froud's initials had been found with the body.