- Bill Sparks
Bill Sparks DSM (
September 5 1922 –December 1 2002 ) was a British soldier inWorld War II . He was the last survivor of the "Cockleshell Heroes ", commandos who paddled 85 miles into German-occupied France to blow up merchant shipping.He was born in the East End of
London and joined theRoyal Marines upon the outbreak of World War II. He volunteered for hazardous service as a way of avenging his brother Benny who had died on the cruiser HMS "Naiad".During the night of
December 11 1942 , ten Royal Marines set out in five canoes onOperation Frankton . They caused considerable damage, damaging five ships, but eight of the men were shot or drowned. Sparks and Major Herbert "Blondie" Hasler were pursued through France and Spain by the Germans for three months before they reached safety inGibraltar .When Hasler flew home, Sparks was sent back to England under arrest, as no one in Gibraltar could corroborate his story. On arrival, he escaped from the military police and went to see his father, who had been told that he was missing in action. Two days later, he reported to the Admiralty and was about to be arrested again, when he slipped out to Combined Operations Headquarters, where he was greeted with astonishment.
During the rest of the war, he served in Burma, Africa and Italy. Afterwards, he worked as a bus driver, during the
Malayan Emergency as a police lieutenant, and then as a bus inspector.Sparks, was survived by three sons, one of whom became a colour sergeant in the Marines, and a daughter. After his first wife, Violet, died in 1982, he married again. Irene, his second wife, survived him.
External links
* http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1415009/Marine-Bill-Sparks.html
Daily Telegraph Obituary "Marine Bill Sparks"
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