Their Story

Bill Sharples, age 90, from Preston. Served with the Royal Artillery and was injured in Normandy by shell fire shortly after the D-Day landings

I did quite well at school, so I went to Liverpool to become a vet. But shortly after that, war broke out and I thought I should sign up. My father and brothers had served in WWI – one of my brothers was killed and one lost an arm – so I felt that I should do my bit. I joined the Royal Artillery, got a commission and was made 2nd Lieutenant. We did stringent exercises preparing for D-Day – wading through water and so on. And off we went, with the 20th Anti-Tank Regiment. We arrived after D-Day, but there was still lots of action. It was hectic and my experience of war was fairly short.

As a Troop Commander I was leading my men on patrol at 5.30am. A sniper was giving us trouble, and I got hit by heavy shelling. The next thing I knew, I was down. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. I looked down and my right leg was sticking out at a right angle. I thought; “Bloody hell!” My leg had actually been blown off and was hanging on by my trousers! My Corporal came over and I said; “I can’t get up”.  I was put on a stretcher, into a jeep, and taken to a medical tent near Bayeaux, where I stayed for a week.

I went home in a landing craft used for D-Day, and was taken to a hospital in Leeds. I spent a month there. The doctors discovered that my left leg, which had also been shot, was giving me as much trouble as my right one. I’d lost a lot of muscle. And my shoulder and hand were also injured. They gave me a tin leg and I began to heal up, which took five months or so. After that, I joined a barracks in Preston to help Prisoners of War who were returning from Germany and Japan. They were suffering from weight loss, diseases… all sorts. I helped them find jobs – they’d been through some harrowing stuff. I was discharged in May 1946 and bought an old mill with my father.

I never took handouts or drew the dole. We produced corn and oatmeal. I’d drive up to Scotland to pick up huge, heavy bags of oats – it was very physical work, but I could do it all despite the injuries, and I was keen to stay active. I ran the business and had seven children. Later I ran a Post Office, and then worked for a brewery as a travelling sales rep. I like ale, talking to people and travelling, so it was a fun job. One of my daughters is autistic, so I read up on her condition and become very interested in it. That led me, at 50, to retrain as a teacher in a special needs school, so I spent three years at university again. I really enjoyed that work, and did it until I retired.

Blesma have been fantastic to me all my life. They helped so much with my leg, and as I got older I always thought that if I got to the point where I couldn’t be independent, I would come to Blackpool. I moved into the Home four months ago, because I have cancer in my hips and the doctor has told me to walk less and use the wheelchair to take the pressure off them. It’s frustrating but I have to do it, and the Home is just fantastic. It is a wonderful place – I cannot speak too highly of it: the food is superb, the people are so friendly, caring and helpful – and the bar is brilliant!