Send a birthday card to Full Monty veteran Bill Pendell

Veteran Bill Pendell is a so called Full Monty, which means he landed and fought on D-Day, he fought in the Ardennes offensive, was present with Market Garden and in the Reichswald.

He luckily survived it all and November 18th he will become 97. He was born in 1921 in Blaine (Wales), Engeland

Veteran British Allied and the Foundation September 18 want to give him a huge surprise on his birthday.

I have never been a real soldier!

“Nobody ever told me what to do. I’m just a normal bloke. I’m a bricklayer.” Bill landed as a courier, classified at the Royal Signals of the 11th Armored Division, during D-Day June 6, 1944 at Gold Beach. Later he would perform exploration operations.

Bill initially went to the infantry in 1941. After he took an exam, six months later he was assigned to the Royal Signals.

He had difficulties with the authorities. However, Bill had respect for the General George ‘Pip’ Roberts, the commander of the 11th Armored Division. “For a general, he was a nice man”.

Nevertheless, Bill was an excellent soldier who had determination exploring in an armored truck for the troops from enemy troop movements and positions.

First bath

“I was always on my own,” Bill said seventy years later. “I only had a stengun as a weapon. But I could hardly ever use that, otherwise, I would betray my position.“

“From Nijmegen we were transported to Eindhoven by truck. Here I had my first bath since the landing in Normandy. “

When the German troops deployed their Ardennes offensive on December 16, the 11th Armored Division had to protect bridges in the area to bring the Germans to a stand.

Then on March 8 1945, Bill marched into Germany a few days after the first Allied troops managed to cross the Rhine river. Bill’s division drove to northern Germany, where the division liberated the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945.

Bill chooses not to discuss what he saw there.

Medals

Bill received the Military Medal in June 1945 for his brave performance in combat situations. In addition, Bill received the Legion d’honneur from the French president in 2016. This distinction is the highest that a foreigner can receive in France.

Bill served in Germany until 1946.

In 1944 Bill Pendell was one of the many liberators of France, Belgium and The Netherlands. Since 2014 Bill visits the city of Eindhoven in The Netherlands during Eindhovens liberation day on September 18.

On November 18, 2018 Bill will be 97 years old! Send him your birthday card or a letter and make his birthday unforgettable.

Send your postcard to (Before November 13, 2018):

Bill Pendell

P.O. Box 1390

5602 BJ Eindhoven

The Netherlands

The Stichting 18 September (foundation September 18) will take care of your card and delivers it on his birthday.