Fred Hodges from Liskeard is looking forward to a special re-union soon with the wartime helmet he threw away at the height of the Battle of Arnhem in World War Two – and never dreamed he would see again. The helmet is now proudly displayed at the Border Regiment Museum in Carlisle, and the story of how it came to be there is full of courage and co-incidence. Elderly Fred, a member of Liskeard Royal British Legion, was one of thirty young men crammed into a glider as it came in to crash-land at Arnhem in Holland in 1944. Once out, his thoughts quickly turned to the bulky helmet designed to protect him from bumpy landings and, like many of his comrades, he decided to throw it away and fight on in his Red Beret. As the battle raged with more gliders landing to bring additional men into battle, Fred felt quite confident at first. Wounded From there though, things went swiftly down hill for him as he was badly wounded in the arm and took refuge in the cellar of a house. It proved to be a popular hiding place for many survivors, until the order came through telling the fit to escape while the wounded prepared to give themselves up. When the Germans arrived a British officer waved the white flag and Fred faced the fact that he was now a captive. 'The Germans weren't too bad I suppose, and at least they gave us a cigarette' he remembers 61 years later. He made the march to detention camp, nursing his wound, and spent the remainder of the conflict as a prisoner of war. However, he did not give his discarded helmet another thought. Some time later – nobody knows exactly how long – a Dutchman came upon the helmet with Fred's name inside, and decided to take it home as a keepsake. Martyn Cornelissen, a more serious collector of war memorabilia, got to hear of this, and offered a German paratrooper's helmet in exchange for Fred's head gear. He wrote to the old soldier telling him of his discovery, but the two did not meet until last autumn when Fred went to Arnhem to join his comrades as they remembered the battle and all those who died in it. Offered As a result the historic helmet was offered to the Border Regiment Museum on temporary loan, and that is where Fred will be trying it for size again on April 16 after arriving in his son's car. Fred left his native Coventry to take up residence in Liskeard six years ago, and says he loves life in Cornwall. His wife has since died and he shares his home with his daughter and grand-daughter. There are earlier memories of Cornwall though because he did his basic infantry training at Bodmin in 1942 as an 18 year old. In those days, away from the heat of battle, you had to have a very good excuse for parting with anything that belonged to the army.