• Operation Frankton

Date of birth:

September 5th, 1922 (East Ham/London, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

November 30th, 2002 (Alfriston/East Sussex, United Kingdom)

Nationality:

British

Born in Clerkenwell, London, Sparks joined the Royal Marines at the outbreak of World War II, driven by the loss of his brother Benny, who was killed when HMS Naiad was torpedoed in 1942.

In December 1942, Sparks paddled Catfish alongside Major Blondie Hasler, sabotaging German shipping in Bordeaux. Escaping overland to Spain, he later served in Burma, North Africa, and Italy, and took part in the Malayan Emergency as a policeman. Sparks later wrote The Last of the Cockleshell Heroes and Cockleshell Commando.

After losing his wife Violet to cancer in 1982, Sparks retraced his mission to Bordeaux to raise funds for cancer research. He remarried in 1984 but health issues forced early retirement. Financial struggles led him to sell his DSM medal, which was safeguarded by Lord Ashcroft. Sparks was later honored in Jack Russell’s painting, "Cockleshell Heroes."

Sparks passed away in 2002, buried in St Andrew Churchyard, Alfriston, Sussex.

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• Photo 1: Find a Grave
• - Third Supplement to The London Gazette of 25th June 1943, Issue 36072, dated 29th June 1943
  - Bill Sparks DSM

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