Bill Sparks

William Edward "Bill" Sparks
Born(1922-09-05)5 September 1922
Clerkenwell, London, England
Died30 November 2002(2002-11-30) (aged 80)
Alfriston, East Sussex, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchRoyal Marines
RankMarine
Battles / warsWorld War II
AwardsDistinguished Service Medal

William Edward Sparks DSM (5 September 1922 – 1 December 2002) was a British Royal Marine Commando in World War II. He was the last survivor of the "Cockleshell Heroes" of Operation Frankton in 1942; a team of commandos who paddled 85 miles from the Bay of Biscay up the Gironde estuary to Bordeaux in German occupied France, to plant limpet mines on merchant ships supplying the Nazi war machine.