Bill Eames was appointed by the French government to the Legion of Honour
Flight Lieutenant Bill Eames, who has died aged 97, was one of the last remaining aircrew who took part in the D-Day landings and during the ill-fated Operation Market Garden.
In September 1943, he was posted to 570 Squadron based at Harwell. The squadron was equipped with the twin-engined Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle aircraft engaged in training airborne troops with glider towing and parachute dropping.
In February 1944 it began supply dropping missions to resistance forces in occupied Europe. On one occasion Eames and his crew dropped a female SOE agent. The crew were not permitted to see the operative in case they were subsequently shot down, captured and interrogated by the Gestapo if the brave woman had also fallen into enemy hands.