As a very young soldier, before coming to the 48th Highlanders, Bill fought with the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders with the Canadian Highland Brigade in the Second World War, during the Rhineland Offensive, the Crossing of the Rhine River, where he was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery in the Field. He later took part in the Liberation of the Netherlands where he received gunshot wounds to both arms. Post-war he quickly rose to the rank of Major with the 48th Highlanders.

One of his greatest strengths was his ability to judge leadership capability amongst his men. “Mental toughness” was an essential quality he always expected in his company officers and senior NCOs. As a company OC in the rank of Major, he organized some impressive field training exercises.

BIll served in the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders (SDG) in which unit, he was awarded the MM. Other units
called the SDG the “Sand, Dust and Gravel Highlanders”. Bill said: “We didn’t call ourselves that; SDG meant “Sudden Death to Germans.”

A lawyer by profession, he was of United Empire Loyalist descent.

Above was extracted from an article by Maj George Pearce in the December 2020 issue of the Falcon.