Sir William Aykroyd Bt. MC.
Sir William Aykroyd Bt. MC. - Bill to friends and Bison to his family
– was born on 24th August 1923. His childhood was spent in Yorkshire
and he attended Charterhouse, which he did not much enjoy. Before the
war such places were still steeped in the ethos of Tom Brown’s
Schooldays and they certainly did not encourage elegance and individuality.
Immediately after leaving school he joined the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon
Guards. He served with the “Skins” with distinction, first
on the social scene in England, whilst training and then in battle.
The “Skins” joined the battle in Normandy just prior to
Sir William’s 21st birthday. He was, at that time, a Lieutenant,
a troop leader in charge of a group of four tanks. On those short summer
nights he slept in a trench beside his tank and was up from his sleeping
bag at 2.30am in order to refuel and take on ammunition as a prelude
to long hot dusty days of action as part of the relentless fighting
that enabled the British army to achieve the all important break-out
from Normandy. Thereafter, he campaigned through France, Belgium, Holland
and on into Germany.
On 22nd October 1944, at the village of Nulands in Holland, the advance
of the 4th Welsh Regiment was held up by a tenacious enemy. The “Skins”
were in support. Sir William was ordered to manoeuvre his tank south
of the village, in order to bring heavy fire to bear, so as to dislodge
the enemy and establish a bridgehead. His tank received a direct hit
on the top of a turret from a shell. Although wounded in the head from
the splinters, he continued amidst heavy and constant fire from the
enemy to complete this task. Afterwards, he was evacuated for treatment
for his injuries and then returned to rejoin his soldiers for the advance
into Germany.
It was during this engagement that he so distinguished himself that
he was awarded an immediate Military Cross for gallantry. Such was the
modest nature of the man, however, it was not for him to recount this
incident. Instead he preferred to recall times of ice skating on the
frozen canals in the very cold winter of 1944 and the pleasure of finding
country houses with cellars of fine wine in which to lodge. An epitome
of elegance and style, and totally unflappable, his men would follow
him wherever he led. It is said that on one occasion Lieutenant Aykroyd
was found warming a bottle of fine claret in the exhaust of his tank,
no doubt with his then customary cigarette set in a holder at an elegant
angle.
At the end of the war Sir William returned to civilian life and he
was well suited to the mood of postwar England. His charm, elegance,
good manners and sense of fun made him hugely popular in London society
and a favoured party guest. By all accounts, he enjoyed himself enormously
and sometimes outrageously! His own parties at his house in Eaton Square
were colourful, stylish, perhaps rather extravagant, but always fun.
He was once asked why he had bought a Rolls Royce. His reply was simple
– “I would feel so foolish without one”. In 1950 he
set up in business with his friend, Hardy Amies, and remained a director
of the hugely successful Hardy Amies fashion house for the next 20 years.
In the early 1970’s he moved to Buckland Newton Place and set
about bringing the house to life. He was a keen supporter of the village
and was not one for pomposity. Indeed, he relished exposing self-important
people. He had a reputation for enjoying a mischievous joke and became
“hard of hearing” when people complained about his dogs.
For most of his life he had a French bulldog as his companion, but Pagan,
Humphrey, Claude and the others were used to living in a grand style
and their behaviour was by no means to everyone’s taste.
Sir William led a full and elegant life redolent of an earlier age
and he was in every sense “a gallant and chivalrous knight”
and a “gentle-man”.
November 2007
With thanks to Lt.Col. Adrian Gilbert, Marcus Binney and Nicholas Johnson.
Auction Date | Tuesday, 11th December, at 11am
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