William Robert Dunn MBE JP

09 June 1923-09 October 2014

Bill Dunn lost his left arm above the elbow and received gunshot wounds to both legs and his spine whilst engaged in the Normandy Landings on Juno Beach during World War II.

Bill was born in 1923 at Ryhope, Tyne & Wear. In 1936, after the death of Bill’s father the previous year, Bill’s mother and her four children moved to Silksworth. On leaving school, aged 14, Bill started work as a miner and remained in the job until the pit closed in 1939.

When war broke out Bill was working in Chester but was soon called up to serve and was sent to Strensall for training. He served with the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) the Essex Regiment and then the Royal Armoured Corps with 26 Assault Squadron RE.

He was seriously wounded by machine gun fire on D-Day, 06 June 1944, in Graye-sur-Mer, and in addition to losing his left arm he suffered gunshot wounds to both legs. His Churchill tank was one of the first vehicles across the beach at Graye-sur-Mer before it got stuck in a large crater and sank in the mud. As the crewmen got out, four of the men were killed by mortar fire, and only Bill and fellow Blesma Member Bill Hawkins survived.

On Thursday 25 November 1976, the tank was exhumed in the presence of the two Bills and their wives. For many years after they were invited by the Mayor of Graye-sue-Mer as a memorial to all those killed on D-Day.

Following discharge from HM Forces, Bill went back to back to work in the Silksworth Colliery but soon had to give up the underground work due to his war injuries. Instead, he found work as a cost clerk with the National Coal Board in his home town of Sunderland, and joined Blesma in December 1944.

He married Marion, the love of his life, in December 1947, was elected to the committee of the Colliery Welfare Football Club in 1950 and was elected Secretary shortly after. Due to ongoing problems as a result of his war injuries he retired in 1974. In 1953, he joined the Sunderland Branch of Blesma. Not long after joining he took on the duties of Branch Welfare Officer and was elected Honorary Secretary of the Branch in 1958 before becoming Chairman of the North East Area, a position he held for 30 years.

Not content with his already heavy workload, he joined the Northumbria War Pensions Committee in 1954 and, six years later, he became the committee’s Chairman. After amalgamation, he served as Chairman of the new Newcastle and District War Pension Committee, was a member of the Advisory Committee on War Pensions in London for 12 years and even found time to serve as a magistrate on the Sunderland bench for 17 years.

Bill, who was awarded an MBE in 1973, sadly lost his beloved wife, Marion, in June 1995. He is survived by his only daughter, Jean. Bill died peacefully after a short illness on 09 October 2014. He was a great stalwart of the Association and he will be sadly missed by all who knew him.