CQMS Bill Cooper (left) in Germany with Sergeant "Fritz" Lawson on a captured motorcycle, both of "C" Company, 7th Parachute Battalion. Cooper had been taken prisoner in North Africa in 1942 and was held in several prisoner of war camps in Italy. Following their surrender in September 1943, he left the camp and made his way to the Allied lines; a full account of his adventures can be read here. On his return to the UK, Cooper volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and participated in the Normandy campaign as Platoon Sergeant of No.9 Platoon. He accompanied them on Operation Varsity as Company Quartermaster Sergeant of "C" Company, and in the above photograph he is seen hiding his left arm which had been badly burned during the advance into Germany. As Cooper had approached a road, a young German, aged about 14 with an over-sized helmet covering his eyes, emerged from a trench in front of him with a Panzerfaust. Cooper had his pistol drawn at the time and could have shot the boy, instead he chose to close with him and knocked the Panzerfaust upwards with his left arm as it went off, sending the projectile harmlessly into the air but it burned Cooper's left forearm as it passed. The poor boy burst into tears at the sight of a six foot tall paratrooper standing over him, and Cooper took him prisoner having given him a kick up the backside for the trouble. The burn was treated with a poultice of sauerkraut; Cooper said that he smelt of pickled cabbage for a week, but it did the job and left only a very small scar. Larger image. Copyright: Matthew Cooper.

CQMS Cooper's stick for Operation Varsity. Upon meeting the American crew, Captain "Jock" Hawley asked the pilot if the strong point, to which the static line was attached, was secure. He answered "Sure", but to be certain Hawley, a strong man, gave it a savage tug and pulled it from its attachment. The pilots quickly and calmly arranged for a replacement aircraft. Private J. Reay was not happy to be the 13th man in the stick, so Bill Cooper, who was not in the slightest superstitious, exchanged places with him. Copyright: Matthew Cooper.

Copyright: Matthew Cooper.

Bill Cooper (left) with Norman Toop, reunited in 1995 by a chance meeting at a V.E. Day Parade in Wells, Somerset, 50 years after they last saw each other. Copyright: Matthew Cooper.

7th Parachute Battalion reunion at a Coventry hotel, 1996. From the left are Norman Toop (1st), Terry Martin (4th) and Bill Cooper (5th).Copyright: Matthew Cooper.

7th Parachute Battalion reunion at a Coventry hotel, 1996. Copyright: Matthew Cooper.