And as the world prepares to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the glorious failure of Arnhem, Private Ivor Rowberry’s haunting words where he tells his loved ones they were “worth dying for” echo with true heroism. Ivor was only 22 when he sat down on September 16, 1944, to pen what was to be his farewell letter to his mother. It wouldn’t have been easy to find a quiet space to compose a note, let alone a 700-word final dispatch. All around him RAF Broadwell was confusion as soldiers and glider pilots made final preparations for Operation Market Garden starting the next day.

The idea was to capture eight bridges over the Rhine, allowing entry into Germany and ending the war by Christmas. Ivor didn’t live to see Christmas. In five days he was dead, blown up by a mortar grenade.

Using the American spelling for “Mom”, as many in the West Midlands did, he wrote: “Tomorrow we go into action. As yet we do not know exactly what our job will be, but no doubt it will be a dangerous one in which many lives will be lost, mine may be one of those lives.

Well, Mom, I am not afraid to die.”

His letter speaks to every soldier, past and present who, while swearing an oath to the Crown, risks their lives for the comrades next to them or loved ones at home.

“Don’t get me wrong though, Mom, I am no flag-waving patriot, nor have I ever professed to be,” he says. “England’s a great little country – the best there is but I cannot honestly and sincerely say ‘that it is worth fighting for.’ Nor can I fancy myself in the role of a gallant crusader fighting for the liberation of Europe. It would be a nice thought but I would be kidding myself.

“No, Mom, my little world is centred around you and includes Dad, everyone at home, and my friends at Wolverhampton – That is worth fighting for – and if by doing so it strengthens your security and improves your lot in any way, then it is worth dying for too.”

Ivor was no stranger to grief. His brother Gordon had drowned in a swimming accident in 1935.

“It is a letter I hoped you would never receive, as it is just a verification of that terse, black-edged card which you received some time ago, and which has caused you so much grief,” he says, alluding to Gordon.

His last thoughts are for his love of his mother: “My only regret is that I have not done as much for you as I would have liked to do. I loved you, Mom, you were the best Mother in the World, and what I failed to do in life I am trying to make up for in death, so please don’t let me down, Mom, don’t worry or fret, but smile! be proud and satisfied.”

Ivor left school in Wolverhampton to work at Boulton & Paul, making the Defiant fighter plane. But he yearned to “do his bit” and enlisted in the 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment, volunteering for airborne service. He got his chance in Operation Market Garden, immortalised in the book A Bridge Too Far. There were two parts. Market was the largest airborne operation to date, 50,000 soldiers in gliders and 20,000 paratroopers. Garden involved armoured relief, mainly tanks of the Guards Division. But hasty planning, equipment failure and in in underestimating resistance, meant it failed to capture the last bridge at Arnhem. It was a wonder Ivor survived his flight.The flimsy Horsa glider was the size of a Lancaster bomber.

But problems began on the ground. Serving with Signal Platoon, HQ Company of the 2nd Battalion, he faced communications failures. Some units were 13 miles apart, beyond the five-mile range. Other radios were on the wrong frequency.

The end came quickly. Fellow soldier Donald Marklew said: “We shared the same gun-pit and I went to the toilet and when I came back, I saw he was killed. He’d been hit by a mortar grenade in the back.”

Ivor’s letter received recognition 1946 when his mother entered it a Basildon Bond/Tatler competition for Best Letter Written by a Member of THEARMED Forces. It beat 400 other entries to win.

The magazine is featured in an Arnhem exhibition at Staffordshire Regiment Museum near Lichfield.

Museum director Danielle Crozier says: “We are proud to feature the original Tatler with Ivor’s letter, as well as Major Cain VC’s battle smock and Red Devils beret, plus a bust of Jack Baskeyfield VC – it is the only action in the Second World War in which two VCs were awarded to men of the same battalion.”

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