Honoured veteran says he's one of the 'lucky ones'

The daughter of a World War Two veteran recognised in the King's Birthday Honours said it took "a while" for her father to come to with the news.

Geoffrey Roberts, 99, from Peterborough, will become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem and to charity.

His daughter, Claire Welburn, said: "It's taken him a while to come to with it, because he always says, 'I didn't do anything'."

Mr Roberts was captured in the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, in which more than 8,000 British soldiers were killed, missing or taken prisoner.

The battle was a failure, as the Allies did not secure a bridge over the Rhine at the Dutch city of Arnhem.

Mr Roberts was sent to a prisoner of war camp and put to work in a coal mine until the end of the war.

Ms Welburn said her father went back to the Netherlands every year to pay his respects.

"Every time he goes back, it's very emotional, every year we always go to Oosterbeek Commonwealth War Cemetery," she said.

"He goes straight to his two friends Plummer and Brown, who died during the battle."

She said her father wanted to praise the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, which helped him with his annual visit.

Mr Roberts, who was born in the Chelsea Barracks in London in 1925 and celebrates his 100th birthday later this month, ed the Army in 1942.

Ms Welburn said her father was surprised when he found out he would become an MBE.

"His first words actually were, 'I'm not very happy about that'," she said.

"He always says, 'the heroes are the ones lying in the cemetery', and he's just one of the lucky ones."

Other people in Cambridgeshire awarded honours include:

• Prof Timothy James Cole FMedSci, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, appointed CBE for services to medical statistics.

• Philip Albert Colligan, Raspberry Pi Foundation, appointed CBE for services to engineering and technology for societal impact.

• Prof Gordon Dougan FRS FMedSci, University of Cambridge, appointed CBE for services to vaccines and to global health.

• Prof Emily Fleur Shuckburgh OBE, University of Cambridge, appointed CBE for services to climate science and to the public communication of climate Science.

• The Rev Canon Dr Malcolm Arthur Brown, Church of England, appointed OBE for services to the public witness of the Church of England.

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