Veteran Bill finally honoured for his war service
PRESENTATION FOR SOLDIER WHO MISSED OUT ON WAR MEDALS
Reporter NEWCASTLE war hero Bill Hull dodged bullets and bombs in the Second World War but red tape meant he missed out on being presented with his medals.
Now that has changed for the 91-year-old after being handed a badge of honour - 72 years after the war’s end.
The brave veteran, whose real name is Wellesley, served in the war and in Burma with the Worcester Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Alpha Company, and thinks back on his war years with great pride.
He received his campaign medal from 1939-45 but was disappointed when he applied to the Ministry of Defence for his war medals in 1997 and was informed that he had left on the boat to India just six days too late to qualify for them.
Now he has been honoured in a special presentation - thanks to a strange turn of events. Bill (circled) when he was in Company.
Bill still proudly wears his regiment badge and, on a recent hospital visit, got into conversation with a paramedic who enquired about his service. After hearing about Bill’s disappointment over his war medals, the paramedic suggested he apply for an armed forces veterans’ badge, which is available to anyone who has previously served in the British military.
As chance would have it, Bill then received a copy of Newcastle City Council’s residents’ magazine, Citylife, which promoted the Armed Forces Outreach Service offered by Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) and Newcas