Bill was born
in Southbank UK on 29th September 1913. He enlisted as a regular
soldier in 1932 in the East Yorkshire Regiment.
He had completed his peacetime service as a regular by 1939, but was kept in
the Army at the outbreak of War. He was in the British Expeditionary Force
in France in 1940, but when they were overrun Bill was able to make his
escape through St Nazaire. The ship evacuating him was bombed and he was
wounded. Britain was by then on her knees and the priority was defence, but
Bill was amongst those who looked for a more aggressive role and became one
of the earliest parachutists, joining 2nd Parachute Battalion as
soon as it was formed
He
was one of Major Frost's Company in the Bruneval raid (to seize German
Radar equipment for study), the first fully successful combined
operation.
He next jumped in
Tunisia at Oudna in 1942 and survived the subsequent fighting withdrawal to
friendly forces, after many hair-raising adventures.
The 1st Parachute
Brigade was then used as infantry in Tunisia wherever the need was greatest
and suffered heavy losses. Bill was amongst those wounded and had a further
miraculous escape when the ambulance he was being evacuated in was
destroyed by a mine which killed all the others.
Because he was at that
time recovering from wounds, Bill missed the invasion of Sicily, but had
returned to the 2nd Battalion in England in time for the Battle of Arnhem.
This Battalion, still commanded by John Frost, was the only one to reach
the bridge and held it till overwhelmed. In this fighting Bill was again
wounded, but managed to escape over the River.
Bill had, indeed, a
spectacular Airborne career which few could match.
He died in
September 2003, aged eighty-nine, just a few days short of
his ninetieth birthday,
R.I.P.
