Born in Dunoon, Scotland, Bill joined the 1st British Airborne Division at the age of 17. He participated in Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem - a "Bridge Too Far" Sep. 1944. He was dropped behind enemy lines and would never have survived without the assistance of the Dutch people he was fighting to protect and the evacuation efforts of the 23rd Field Company of the Canadian Engineers. His book "A Time to Remember" has given his family insight into the horrors of war and the immense courage and conviction of those involved. After the war he immigrated to BC, played professional soccer for Vancouver then Victoria and worked for the Queens Printers. He rejoined the military and spent many years in Coaching and Physical Education Training for the Canadian Armed Forces and the three Royal Military Colleges in Canada. He coached the Canadian National Soccer Team in the 1970's. After retirement from the military he worked for the B.C. Government in Sports and Recreation before retiring and settling back to Victoria in the late 1980s. In 1991 he was inducted in to the Sports Hall of Fame in Ottawa for his contributions to Boxing and Soccer in Canada.