William Anthony "Bill" Birchenough(16 December 1925 – 15 October 2012) was a British cave explorer and a member of the 1964 Balinka pit expedition to Yugoslavia.
[1] After his return from India he took part in the Berlin Airlift, working for Flight Refuelling Limited, before joining the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, then latterly Aberporth in West Wales.
On Saturday April 12 of that year he had visited the Waterfall series in Dan yr Ogof for the first time as a prospective member of the club, when his guide, David Jenkins had fallen near Idol Junction and was rendered unconscious.
The Yugoslavs also explained that Balinka had been the location of the execution of four Partisans on April 2, 1942, Robert Domany, Drago Štajnberger, Branko Latas, and Stevo Čuturilo.
A tape recording and transcription were made of the conversation with him during his descent[10] which involved some improvisation and the drilling of a bolt into the ledge which was used for a second expedition a year later.
Bill Birchenough did not take part in the second Balinka expedition which took place in 1966 and reached the bottom of the pit, gathering scientific information and recovering the remains of the four partisans executed in the Second World War.