Bill Sparks

William Edward "Bill" Sparks
Born(1922-09-05)5 September 1922
Died30 November 2002(2002-11-30) (aged 80)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
BranchRoyal Marines
RankMarine
ConflictsWorld 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.