'Best send-off ever' for D-Day veteran at funeral

Bill Gladden was just 20 when he was shot in France after landing on D-Day

The loved ones of a D-Day veteran who died just weeks before the 80th anniversary of the landings have said he was was "kindness personified".

Bill Gladden, from Haverhill, Suffolk, flew into Normandy on 6 June via a glider before he assisted the allies by driving motorbikes deep into German territory.

Mr Gladden celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this year before he died on 24 April.

The veteran's family said his funeral, held in Bury St Edmunds on Friday, was the "best send-off ever".

The service at the West Suffolk Cemetery and Crematorium was attended by about 70 motorcyclists who formed a guard of honour along the route.

Mr Gladden was a member of the Royal Armoured Corp, serving with the 6th Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment in 1944.

Motorcyclists in attendance said it was "very, very important" to remember the sacrifices of military veterans

His niece, Kaye Thorpe, said he was a "very humble, lovely character".

"Everybody loved him... he really couldn’t understand why people liked him so much," she told the BBC.

On 17 June 1944, Mr Gladden carried two wounded soldiers into a barn being used as a medical post.

Two days later he was carried into the same barn after he was shot while brewing tea.

Upon returning to the UK, he spent the next three years in hospital being treated for his wounds.

Mr Gladden's family threw him a surprise party when he turned 100 in January

Mrs Thorpe's husband, Alan, said the family "never expected" such a high turnout at the veteran's funeral.

"We knew it would be popular but this is beyond amazing and rightly so – he deserves it," he said.

"He was kindness personified and everything good about a human being."

Stephen Gibson, who helped to organise the motorcyclists' procession, said it was "very, very important" to remember the sacrifices of D-Day veterans.

"None of us can match what he ever saw and what he did," he added.

Among those paying tribue to Mr Gladden were (from left) Alan Thorpe, Kaye Thorpe and Stephen Gibson

Mr Gladden's family threw him a surprise party to celebrate his 100th birthday on 13 January.

Speaking at the time, Mrs Thorpe said her uncle was still "bright as a button" and had been hoping to return to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June.

Before his military service he had been a builder and after his recovery worked in various factory jobs and in payroll departments.