THE 75th anniversary of D-Day will be marked by a poignant gathering at a former Dorset airfield which proved vital to the Allied success.

Late on Monday, June 5, 1944, six Horsa gliders flew to Normandy from the RAF's Tarrant Rushton airfield.

On board were the first British troops to be dropped into northern France, where their objective in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, was to secure a bridge near Caen.

This structure, successfully taken and held by British airborne forces, was later named Pegasus Bridge.

Two additional major lifts of Halifax bombers, towing troop-carrying Horsa and tank-carrying Hamiclar gliders, also took place from the airfield, near Blandford, on D-Day.

A quarter of a century on, a gathering organised by the Wimborne branch of the Royal Air Forces Association, will honour those who flew from, and served at, the former RAF station.

Branch chairman Eddie Robertson said: "RAF, glider pilot regiment and army veterans, former flight refuelling airfield staff, their families, friends and anyone with an affinity with the former airfield – and its remarkable history across almost 40 years – are invited to attend and bring chairs.

"Tarrant Rushton airfield has a remarkable and important history in times of both war and peace.

"The courage of its Halifax aircrews, glider pilots and airborne troops should be remembered and commemorated. The bravery and sacrifice of the men who failed to return after flying from the airfield should never be forgotten."

After the war the airfield became home to pioneering aviation research and manufacturing company Flight Refuelling, which later became Cobham PLC.

The company left the airfield in 1980.

During the Second World War the airfield was used to train bomber and glider pilots for the D-Day, Arnhem and Rhine Crossing operations, as well as dropping off secret agents from the Special Operations Executive into occupied Europe.

Mr Robertson said: "Between April, 1944, and May, 1945, Tarrant Rushton’s No. 298 and No. 644 Squadrons flew 2,284 missions into occupied Europe, from southern France up to Norway.

"Twenty-seven Halifax bombers were shot down and more than 160 aircrew lost their lives – British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealanders and men from other Commonwealth countries.

"Also killed were glider pilots, airborne troops and the Special Operations Executive secret agents dropped behind enemy lines."

The commemoration service will take place at Tarrant Rushton's stone memorial, close to the site of the former airfield's main gate, on Sunday, June 2, from 2pm.