OUR DAILY PUB QUIZ
UNDER heavy fire from Nazi gunners, Bill Anderson accelerated his Sherman M3 tank down the landing craft’s ramp on to Juno Beach.
It was June 6, 1944 – D-Day – and the 20-year-old’s very first day of combat.
Despite his vehicle bearing unlucky No13 the tank driver, of the East Riding Yeomanry, went on to help capture the beach and chase Hitler’s troops out of France, Belgium and Holland.
Yesterday tributes were paid as it emerged Bill - one of the last surviving veterans of D-Day - had died aged 98.
Detailing his dad’s heroics on that day, son Richard, 68, said: “They were at full throttle. The ramp went down and a half-track went off first and disappeared.
“Dad saw an arm come out of a window, but it sank and that was it. Someone stepped in front of the visor and signalled Bill to stop and the ramp came up again.
“The next thing he knew the ramp opened again and he was on Juno Beach.”
Bill’s Sherman was the troop’s only tank not destroyed advancing through France and Belgium. Richard added: “When VETERAN Bill at 85
Marrying Jenny in 1945 the Germans broke through at the Battle of the Bulge, it was his regiment that went to the rescue.”
Bill also played a key role securing the River Orne and Pegasus Bridge. Richard said: “It was a an honour to be his son.” Bill was born in Waltham Cross, Herts, the eldest of 12 children.
He began work as a fruit and veg driver at 16, and after the war delivered lorries. He married Jenny in 1945 and they settled in Althorne, Essex. Youngest brother Richard said he “was my hero”. Bill died from Covid on January 30. He is survived by Jenny, 98.
Pegasus Bridge, 1944 1
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Baron Haussmann redesigned which capital in the 1860s? 3
March was named after which Roman god of war?
4
Which planet has the hottest surface temperature?
5
What type of hat is worn by Sherlock Holmes?