Bill was born in Eire
on 6th May 1927. He joined the Irish Guards at age seventeen, and, after
initial training, was drafted to the 2nd Battalion, which was part of the
Guards Armoured Division.
At that time this
Divisionb, in which the 2nd Battalion operated Sherman tanks, had been
actively engaged on the continent since the early days of the , and were
then operating in Holland. Bill served with this Battalion to the end of
hostilities, by which time they had reached Hamburg.
After the war the 2nd
and 3rd Battalions were disbanded and Bill was posted to the 1st Battalion,
having enlisted as a regular in November 1945.
His new Battalion was
sent to Palestine in 1947, and later to North Africa. During this period
Bill volunteered to transfer to the Parachute Regiment, and although his
first application was not successful, he applied again and joined the 16th
Independent Company in 1950.
He was based at
Pirbright where the unit was held at on 12 hours notice at all times, to
meet any emergency anywhere in the world. Bill was very enthusiastic about
the Parachute Regiment and protested when he was recalled to the Guards in
1952. He remained with the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards until his discharge
in 1953.
