HENRYK Podzorski was a Polish war hero who worked in Huddersfield's chemical industries.

Mr Podzorski, who has died aged 88 after a short illness, won the Polish Military Cross for his bravery during the Allies' attempt to capture bridges at Arnhem to speed up their advance into Germany to shorten the Second World War.

Paratroopers and gliders were flown into the Dutch town, believing it was lightly defended.

But the intelligence information was wrong and they landed on two German SS Panzer divisions pulled back from the front line.

Bitter fighting followed for two weeks.

More than 10,000 troops were sent into Arnhem, but only about 2,500 escaped - including Mr Podzorski.

He always remained modest about his wartime experiences.

Mr Podzorski was born in Krakow - the same city as the late Pope John Paul II - in July, 1916. He also went to university there to study chemistry, but the war intervened.

He was called up into the Polish army and managed to escape the Nazi invasion in 1939 and made his way through Europe to England.

He joined a Polish unit and trained to be a paratrooper. But he was fluent in English and German and was transferred to a British paratroop regiment as an interrogation officer.

He parachuted into Arnhem with this unit and was immediately caught up in the thick of the battle.

He was fired on as he landed and he eventually had to escape across a bullet-strafed river, swimming the final stretch.

Mr Podzorski was airlifted back to England and did not see frontline action again. But he was part of the army of occupation in Germany in the summer of 1945 before he was demobbed a year later.

He met his wife, Eileen, while training in Rutland and the couple married in December, 1944, shortly after his return from Arnhem.

After the war they moved to Huddersfield, where Mr Podzorski continued his studies at the Technical College.

He then went to work for ICI.

After 20 years he switched to nearby LB Holliday's dyes and chemicals and travelled extensively in eastern Europe.

He also made business trips to the Far East, including China and North Korea, before retiring in 1981.

Mr Podzorski was a member of the Lutheran faith and was chairman of St Matthew's Polish Lutheran Church in Little Horton, Bradford, for many years.

He was also a member of Huddersfield Probus Club.