After sweeping through France and Belgium in the summer of 1944, the Allies were poised to enter the Netherlands to secure key bridges and towns along the Allied axis of advance. Victor Gregg and his fellow riflemen are asked to volunteer for the Parachute Regiment in an operation called Market Garden. The staunchly held maxim, 'once a rifleman always a rifleman', was overruled by a promise of extra leave. The British airborne forces landed some distance from their objective in Arnhem and were quickly hampered by unexpected resistance. Only a small force was able to reach the Arnhem road bridge, and reinforcements were unable to advance north as quickly as anticipated, therefore failing to relieve the Parachute Regiment. The troops had been up against unimaginable odds and after nine days of fighting, Gregg is captured and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Dresden, where the infamous and tragic bombings were about to begin.