William ‘Bill’ Gladden was just 20 when he dropped into France on the evening of 6 June 1944. Packed into an enormous Hamilcar glider, he had shared the journey across the Channel with a Tetrarch tank and his beloved Matchless motorbike. Men and machines were being deployed to support the invasion of Normandy as part of the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment. However, Gladden’s war ended after just 12 days when he was hit and severely injured by machine gun fire. Following his return to England, he spent years in hospital, receiving multiple surgeries to save his leg.
Now aged 100 and living in Haverhill, Suffolk, Gladden paints watercolours inspired by Hamilcar gliders and his landing site near Ranville, Normandy. Speaking to History of War, he reveals his D-Day experience as part of the 6th Airborne Division and how he continues to honour his fallen comrades.
Preparing for Overlord When Gladden turned 18 in 1942, he was called up to join the British Army, initially training with the West Kents in Maidstone and with the 154 Royal Armoured Corps in Bury St Edmunds. While training, he began to pick up skills that would pay dividends in the 6th Airborne, learning how to drive tanks and motorcycles. These were put to the test immediately on the east coast, where he was a dispatch rider for the Royal Engineers working on Hobart’s Funnies, the specialist amphibious vehicles built for the landings.
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