The Airborne memorial service is held annually to commemorate the airmen who participated in Operation Market Garden. The CWGC cemetery at Oosterbeek has over 1,500 British, Commonwealth, Dutch, and Polish airmen who participated in Operation Market Garden.

Emma will lead the hymns and sing during the wreath-laying, with the Royal Harmony Orchestra of Oosterbeek under conductor Jurgen Nab.

Sunday, 23rd September, 11:00, CWGC Oosterbeek, Van Limburg Stirumweg, 6861 WL Oosterbeek

The story of Dakota FZ626 shows the fortitude and self-sacrifice of the servicemen of the Second World War.

On 19^thSeptember, 1944, Dakota FZ626 flew to Drop zone ‘V’ near Arnhem, the Netherlands, to deliver supplies to British and Polish ground troops. She was part of a group of planes consisting of 101 Short Stirling Bombers and 63 Dakotas. 97 planes were shot, and 19 did not make it back home.

Dakota FZ626 was shot down as she approached the drop-zone. Instead of turning the aircraft away from the guns, Pilot Officer John (Len) Wilson flew directly towards them. The plane hit one of the fours gun and the explosion when she landed caused panic amongst the gun crews. Len Wilson, Herbert Osbourne, Reginald French, James Grace and Richard Newth were killed in the crash. Les Gaydon, Vince Dillworth and Wilfred Jenkinson cleared the burning aircraft in time by parachute. They were taken prisoner by the Germans.

For more information about incredible story of FZ626, please visit this informative website.

To commemorate the crew of Dakota FZ626, a private sponsor has commissioned a monument. It will be unveiled on Friday, 21^stSeptember. Emma will sing “Abide with Me” and lead the national anthems during the ceremony.

Friday, 21st September, 15:00 Bakenbergseweg 264, Schaarsbergen, the Netherlands.

On Friday, 21st September, the Airborne Monument in Renkum will be unveiled by Glider Pilot Frank Ashleigh and parachutist Steven Morgan. Both fought during the Second World War in Operation Market Garden and both were taken prisoner of war by the Germans.

For more information about the monument, please follow this link.

Friday, 21st September, 12:30, Telefoonweg 2, Renkem, the Netherlands

The Stichting Nederland-Amerika (Dutch-America Association) organises annual visits to the Netherlands for Second World War veterans from the US, Canada, and the UK. This year, the veterans will visit Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, the largest CWGC cemetery in Germany. Around 7,500 commonwealth servicemen are buried in the cemetery, as well as some Polish servicemen.

Those buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery fought in various campaigns. Many of the soldiers of the land forces died in the advance through Reichswald Forest in February, 1945. The airbourne forces landed in nearby Hamminkeln and crossed the Rhine. There are also bodies of airmen recovered from air attacks over Germany.

Thursday, 20^thSeptember, 11:15, CWGC Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Grunewaldstrasse 47533, Kleve, Germany

On Saturday, 15th September Emma will sing as a guest soloist during the Alphen aan den Rijn Tattoo. The tattoo features the bands Crescendo, METRO, the Band of Liberation and Pipes, Avendo, and Con Brio. Emma will sing with the Band of Liberation with conductor Simon Dubbelaar.

20:00, Alphen aan den Rijn City Hall, Castellumstraat, Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands

Emma will join soldiers, officers, and veterans of the Welsh Guards in Hechtel, Belgium, to sing during remembrance ceremonies during their pilgrimage.

The Welsh Guards fought at Hechtel during the Second World War. In 1944, they helped capture ‘Joe’s Bridge,’ a wooden bridge over the Bocholt-Herentals Canal, which became a strategic point in Operation Market-Garden.

During their pilgrimage, the group will visit sites linked to the Welsh Guards during the First- and Second World Wars.

Emma will sing during a remembrance ceremony at the Sherman Tank monument on Sunday, 9^thSeptember.

On Sunday, 2^nd September, Emma will join members of Flow Performing Arts and pianist Isolde Troost in a presentation of classical music with difference dance forms. Dancers Florence Rapati, Jelle Chin and Thami Joe Fischer will perform in various dance styles including classical ballet, tap, and contemporary.

Emma will join the dancers to sing Schubert’s Gretchen am Spinnrade, Grieg’s Ved Gjætle-Bekken, and Wagner’s Liebestod (arr. Liszt).

The programme includes the Arabian Dance from The Nutcracker, Irene van Zeeland’s choreography for a piece by Philip Glass, Ravel’s Ondine, comic tap-dancing to Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca, and a piano solo written especially for Isolde Troost by Dutch composer Jannum Kruidhof: Daedalus en Icarus.

Sunday, 1^stSeptember, 14:00, Studio B in The Hague Openbare Bibliotheek, The Hague, the Netherlands.