Trebah Airborne Forces Day -takes place on Saturday.

When the Trebah Garden Trust was formed in 1990, the donors, Major and Mrs Tony Hibbert, asked the Trust to allocate one day a year as a Military Day, to raise money for the Parachute Regiment - of which Tony was a founder member in 1940 and saw action in many areas, not least Arnhem.

In 1942, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions formed the 1st Parachute Brigade of 1,800 men, which took part in the invasion of North Africa. After seven months of bitter fighting the Brigade had suffered 100% casualties and had earned from their adversaries the renowned German 'Witzig' Parachute Battle Group, the name "The Red Devils".

The three battalions were again together in 1944 as 1st Parachute Brigade for the Battle of Arnhem, with 1,760 men. Outnumbered and outgunned they were still able to capture and hold Arnhem Bridge for four days. After eight days only 350 survivors were left to fight their way back across the river.

Today, those three battalions are grouped into the 16 Air Assault Brigade in Afghanistan. They are fighting against a strong, skilled, fanatical enemy that has modern weapons and it is inevitable that we will take casualties.

"We cannot make good the shortage of helicopters and proper equipment that our men need, but we can and will take steps to care for the families of our men who are killed or wounded," said Tony.

All the monies raised on Trebah Airborne Forces Day will be donated to "Support our Paras", a Charitable Trust administered by the Parachute Regiment and dedicated to the support of the families of our casualties.

The day begins at 10.30am and will involve all sorts of events not least a service near to a special memorial set up at the bottom end of the gardens, facing the Helford River.

There will also be an exhibition and action on an assault course, a variety of vintage military vehicles, the Caledonian Pipes and Drums Band, a royal navy helicopter from Culdrose and RNLI lifeboat carrying out a demonstration rescue and hopefully a commemorative fly past by a Spitfire.