100-Year-Old D-Day Veteran Bill Gladden Dies at Home in England

Bill Gladden, a 100-year-old British army veteran who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle a few days later, died at his home in Haverhill, England on April 19, 2023. Gladden was one of the diminishing number of veterans who took part in the D-Day landings that initiated the campaign to liberate Western Europe from the Nazis during World War II.

Born in 1924, Gladden joined the army at 18 and was assigned to the 6th Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment as a motorcycle dispatch rider. On June 6, 1944, he landed behind enemy lines in Normandy in a wooden glider, carrying a tank and six motorbikes. Gladden spent the next 12 days conducting forays into the surrounding countryside.

On June 16, Gladden carried two wounded soldiers into a barn that was being used as a makeshift field hospital. Two days later, he was wounded himself when machine gun fire from a German tank shattered his right ankle. Gladden spent the next three years in the hospital undergoing a series of surgeries, including tendon transplants and skin and bone grafts, to save his leg.

Why this matters: Gladden's passing signifies the loss of one of the last remaining veterans who participated in the historic D-Day landings, a critical moment in World War II that altered the course of history. His story serves as a reminder of the bravery and sacrifices made by the soldiers who fought to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.

After the war, Gladden married Marie Warne, an army driver he met in 1943, and spent 40 years working for Siemens and Pearl Insurance. He regularly joined other veterans on trips to battlefields in Normandy and the Netherlands organized by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans. Gladden chronicled his wartime experiences in a scrapbook, including a piece of parachute silk left behind by a paratrooper and the shoulder insignia of his unit, the Royal Armoured Corps Airborne.

Despite being weakened by cancer, Gladden had been determined to return to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in June 2023 to honor the men who did not come home. "Bill was thinking about going back to Normandy to pay his respects to the two men he carried into that barn 80 years ago," said Dick Goodwin, vice president of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans. "Sadly, he didn't make it." Gladden is survived by his daughter Linda Durrant, his niece Kaye Thorpe, and their spouses, who cared for him in his later years.

Key Takeaways

• Bill Gladden, a 100-year-old British army veteran, died on April 19, 2023.
• Gladden survived D-Day glider landing and a bullet wound during WWII.
• Gladden spent 3 years in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
• Gladden's passing marks the loss of one of the last D-Day veterans.
• Gladden was determined to return to Normandy for the 80th D-Day anniversary.