Man who survived Blitz at Clydebank turns 100
A MAN who remembers pulling his brothers and sisters from the wreckage of Wedderlea Dance Hall during the Clydebank Blitz has turned 100.
William Miller celebrated his centenary on Thursday, March 1, having lived his whole life in Clydebank.
Bill, as he is known by friends, was an engineer by trade but ran the Wedderlea when it took a direct hit during the Blitz.
Recalling that fateful night, he told our sister title the Clydebank Post: “All the planes were down protecting London, when we were getting blown to hell.
“It was the scariest thing in the world coming out after the raid finished.”
William and his family survived the attacks, and he went on to work in Singer’s until he retired.
He married Ellen in 1946 with whom he had two children, Ken and Maureen, and has four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Speaking about his late wife, William said: “She was an angel from heaven. You couldn’t have gotten a better mother.”
A keen golfer and a member of Hardgate Golf Club for more than four decades, he was still on the course well into his 90s and won plenty of trophies over the years.
“I like my golf,” he said. “I had a few trophies for my golf. I could hold my own. I won the Hardgate Championships a couple of times.”
William and Ellen also loved to travel, counting America, Egypt, the former Yugoslavia and Spain among the countries they had visited.
But their favourite place for a holiday was the village of Cullen in Moray, where they had many friends and felt a part of the community.
He added: “I don’t think there were many places in the world we didn’t see. There wasn’t any place like Cullen. It was just a place that was out of this world. It was a magic place.”
He added: “What a wife she was.”