On Tuesday 31 October 2023, the first tulip bulbs were officially presented at Montessori College Arnhem, marking the start of the planting of the famous “Parachute Flower Bulbs” to commemorate the deployment of The Parachute Regiment during the Battle of Arnhem.
Front row: MCA students Jetske Thissen, Elin Brakshoofden, Isis Brakshoofden and Amanda Slotboom of The Airborne Tulips Memorials.
Over ten thousand of these tulip bulbs will be planted in the coming weeks at schools in Arnhem and Oosterbeek, and at Airborne monuments. This planting campaign is an initiative of the Airborne Tulips Memorials a British-Dutch organisation that aims to involve young people and schools, around Arnhem, in commemorating and keeping alive the memory of the Battle of Arnhem in 1944.
The pupils and teachers of Montessori College Arnhem are the first to receive the tulips, as this school is heavily involved in the Airborne commemoration in the Lombok district, which is organised annually by the Airborne Commemoration Arnhem West Committee.
The MCA adopted the monument “Remember September 1944 “on the Nassauplein in Lombok in 2017 and received the official recognition of the National Committee 4 and 5 May for this.