Kansas City resident embarking on 400-mile European bike ride to raise funds for WWII memorial

By Alan Shope

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — John Rochelle, a Kansas City resident and former British military officer, will ride 400 miles in Europe to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden.

He’s hoping to use the journey to raise funds for a memorial.

“We are riding to commemorate the sacrifice, our own regimental family,” Rochelle said.

Rochelle, originally from the United Kingdom, now lives and works in Kansas City.

He will travel back to Europe in September to join a group of British Army veterans on a ride to Holland.

The event commemorates the allied operation known as Market Garden, which was made famous in the movie “A Bridge Too Far.”

“It involved a ground force moving through what was described as a carpet of airborne forces that crossed the bridges over the Rhine. And hopefully into northern Germany and cut short the war,” Rochelle said.

The monument ride covers much of the original trail and serves as a fundraiser.

The group he’s riding with aims to raise enough money to build a memorial in Rochelle’s hometown for three fallen soldiers from that area.

“This is likely to be the last big event to commemorate Market Garden,” Rochelle said.

He added that most of those who fought in the operation have passed away.

“I’m very excited to go and see the ground over which the second battalion actually fought,” Rochelle said.

Rochelle’s brother and cousin will also join him on the six-day, 400-mile trek.

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