From Dunkirk to D-Day

Bill Adlam's hair-raising escape from Dunkirk, his dramaticcommando raids and his storming the D-Day beaches reads likefiction. But it all happened. Bill escaped the Dunkirk disaster via a bayonet charge intoNazi machine guns. He was presented with the Military Medal'for gallantry under fire' by King George VI. Later, Bill volunteered forcommandos: he thrived on adrenaline. Number 4 Commando took him to a surgical strike in thenorth of Norway. The stated objective: to destroy oil installations.It was a feint. Ian Fleming of the Secret Intelligence Service hadmasterminded the raid. Its objective: to help break the Enigma Code. Number 4 Commando then sent him on a raid to Dieppe in August 1942 tospike naval guns to enable a landing by Canadian forces. Bill'scommanding officer was Lord Lovat: cousin to Ian Fleming and(allegedly) template for the fictional James Bond. Bill's prowess as a commando saw him headhunted to a top secretlocation in the wilds of Scotland. Here he trained others inthe dark arts of 'butcher and bolt'. On the morning o 6 June 1944, D-Day, Bill passed over the sands of Normandyin minutes. The next two months saw him up against Hitler'selite army and Waffen SS divisions. The reader will ask the same question that Bill asked: howwould he ever come out alive?