Sergeant William G Leach

Bill joined the Royal Artillery as a regular soldier in September of 1938 at the age of 15. After basic training, he joined the North Staffs Regiment in which he served until February 1944. A lot of his time was based in Yeovil, Somerset where he used the 'Ack Ack' guns up at Barwick. It was in Yeovil that he met, Phyllis whom he married in 1943. 

In February 1944, he volunteered for the AAC joining the 6th Airborne, 9th Battalion. He was sent to RAF Ringway for his parachute jump instruction. He took part on Course 106 which ran between 6 and 16 March 1944. His instructor noted this about his performance:

"Keen - has done well on all his descents"

His time was then spent in training for Operation Overlord. As well as lots of jumps, he was briefed in great detail on the area in which he would be dropped, down to each position of fields, trees etc.  Their target was the Merville Gun Battery.

On the evening of the 5 June, they took off, not sure he knew from which airfield and as happened with so many of them, they were dropped off course. Along with another British chap and a Canadian, realising they were not where they should have been, they decided to try and make their way to the rendezvous. For ten days they made their way deeper into France, sleeping during the day and moving by night.  

On the tenth day they were hiding in some hedgerows when they heard some approaching Germans.  Their initial intent was to take them on but thought better of it and gave themselves up.  The right decision as on the other side of the hedgerow was a Panzer Division.

He then became a POW till the end of the war spending the majority of his time at Camp Stalag IV-B at Muhlberg, Elbe, Brandenburg. Bill's POW number was 82332.

Bill was liberated by the Russians at the end of the war, returning home in May 1945.  He finally got to see my brother Tony who was now 10 months old. 

He stayed with the AAC until he returned to the North Staffs Regiment on 8 December 1945. By August of 1946, he was getting itchy feet and decided to volunteer for Palestine. Unbeknown to my mum, he had told her that 'he had to go!' Bill stayed in Palestine until August 1949 and finally finished his 12 year career on his 27 birthday in May 1950.