TRIBUTES have been paid to a former Rolls-Royce worker and champion budgerigar breeder described as the "Brian Clough" of the budgie world.
William Bancroft, known as Bill, was born in Peel Street, in 1924, and was the only son of Thomas and Ivy Bancroft.
As a schoolboy he was a promising footballer and was signed by Derby County.
But persistent knee problems curtailed what could have been a glittering career as a forward.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Bill joined up and served in a regiment in the RAF. He was involved in the D-Day Landings, where he was parachuted in behind enemy lines, as well as helping the victims of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in north Germany.
Bill arrived two days after the liberation of the camp and would have been involved in dealing with some of the 13,000 unburied bodies along with the 60,000 surviving prisoners, some Jewish, others Soviet POWs. More than half of those were to die from typhus in the months after liberation.
His wife, Lyn Bancroft, said his experiences during the war left a lasting legacy with him for the rest of his life.
Lyn, 62, said: "He had a recurring nightmare right up until the day he died where one of his fellow soldiers took a mortar round in the back and died in his arms. He never talked about his experiences. He just kept them bottled up inside.
"He never even applied for any of his medals and it was only latterly, after a bit of persuasion, that he sent off for his Veterans Badge."
After leaving the Army he began working for Rolls-Royce and carried on supporting his beloved Derby County.
Lyn said: "He began working on the factory floor and that was where he lost his right hand in an accident.
"He was working on a machine changing a blade when the safety mechanism failed and it dropped down and chopped his hand off.
"The firm admitted liability for it and he had a job for life there."
That accident, which occurred in 1956, came in the middle of his heyday as a budgerigar breeder while living inAllestree. Lyn said: "Bill got into bird breeding after his dad won a budgerigar in a raffle in 1935. His mother and father were very successful breeders of Chow Chow dogs and Bill wanted to be as good a budgie breeder.
"He joined the Budgerigar Society in 1947 and was president of the group in 1977.
"He was the Brian Clough of the budgerigar world.
"He was fiercely competitive but he was also incredibly loyal and once you broke this hard outer shell you found a very kind and gentle man. He would call a spade and spade and you always knew where you stood with him."
Losing his hand very nearly caused him to stop keeping his beloved birds however.
Lyn said: "Bill nearly gave up keeping the birds because he couldn't perform certain tasks because of his hand loss.
"He went to the limb centre and explained that he needed a pair of tweezers so that he could keep the birds. They made him a special pair that would fit into his appendage and it allowed him to carry on."
And his dexterity with his new tool also allowed him to win numerous bets with people who questioned his abilities.
Lyn said: "He would have bets with people who didn't believe he could pick up cigarette ash without breaking it with his tweezers. He won a lot of money doing that!"
And budgies were also what brought Lyn and Bill together.
The pair met in 1978 when Lyn was exhibiting her birds in Banbury and Bill was judging.
She said: "Our eyes met over a hot dog and the rest is history.
"We were both in a similar situation with our marriages and as our divorces went through we called one another to offer a mental crutch and then we got together."
The pair moved up to Worksop in 1979 before moving to moved to Sutton in Ashfield where they have lived ever since with Bill retiring from Rolls-Royce in 1983.
The couple were married for 33 years and had no children. Bill had one son, James, from his first marriage to Winifred.
He died, aged 90, after a long battle with heart problems. His funeral took place at Nottingham Road cemetery.
Lyn would like to thank everyone who attended and asked that Mick and Carol Millington ring the Derby Telegraph, on 01332 291 111, extension 6334, so that their contact details could be passed on to her.
