Last Post - Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) WALTER HERBERT COOK

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last post for w.h. cook

Source: reconstructed according to http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers

Lost Bomber Report

Serial MZ807. 45 Halifax Mk.111. Part of a batch of 360 HP61 Halifax Mk.B.111. Delivered by English Electric Co. (Salmesbury & Preston) between 23Jun44 and 14Jul44. MZ807 was initially issued to No.422 Sqdn. Airborne 1749 Dec. 02, 1944 from Skipton-on-Swale... Those killed are buried in Choloy War Cemetery. See below for images of the gravesite and headstone. F/S Mallory was treated for his injuries in a French Hospital.

Source: www.lostbombers.co.uk

Click here to read the entire report.

 silver cross wh cook

Choloy Cemetery

Choloy War Cemetery was created as the last resting place of military personnel recovered from isolated sites and small churchyards in north-eastern France where permanent maintenance of the graves was not possible. It is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The land was a gift from the people of France as shown in the plaque below.

choloy plaque - gift of people of france

 

In Memory of
Flight Lieutenant WALTER HERBERT COOK

J/11319, 433 Sqdn., Royal Canadian Air Force
who died age 24
on 02 December 1944

Remembered with honour
CHOLOY WAR CEMETERY

Commemorated in perpetuity by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The headstone of Flight Lieutenant Walter Herbert Cook beside his crew members at Choloy War Cemetery, image courtesy of Al Mallory, Son of F/S Lorne Mallory.

The image below of Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Walter Herbert Cook's Headstone at Choloy is provided courtesy of The War Graves Photographic Project. http://www.twgpp.org/information.php?id=2692156. The Project has kindly posted the photo of the crew with each crew's headstone on their site.

the wargraves photographic project logo

cook headstone from the war graves commission

wh cook

Flight Lieutenant Walter Herbert Cook was born Feb 1, 1920 in Treharris, Merthyr, Glamorgan, Wales. The young man joined the Royal Canadian Airforce in 1941. He received his wings at Dunnville in 1942, and then went on to graduate from an Instructors course at Trenton. He was a flying instructor at No. 8 SFTS in Moncton, New Brunswick for 18 months. Although the young man could have stayed in the relative safety of teaching others to fly, he posted overseas to 433 Squadron. The crew departed at 17:00 hours for an operation near Hagen Germany, crashing in France at 23:00 hours on Dec 2/3, 1944. It was the first flight of the W.H. Cook crew in Halifax MZ 807. Flt. Lieutenant Cook was posthumously awarded the Operational Wings of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Flt. Lieutenant Cook is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Cook of Hamilton, Ontario and Lonsdale, Rhode Island.

Ops Report December 2/3, 1944

31 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 424, 425, 426, 427, 429, 432, 433, and 434 squadrons were joined by 48 Lancasters from 419, 428 and 431 squadron on an attack at Hagen. The crews were over the target at between 16,000 and 18,000 feet, releasing 1,424,000 lbs of high explosives and 262,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports, bombing was accurate with severe damage being caused. A factory making batteries for U-Boats was completely destroyed. All crews commented on the severe icing to and from the target on this night.

Source: Photo and ops report http://www.6grouprcaf.com/ courtesy of Richard Koval. The photo image of Flight Lieutenant Walter Herbert Cook on Richard Koval's site was supplied by F/Lt Cook's cousin David Davies.

__________________________________

F/Lt W. Cook RCAF and crew, flying Halifax III MZ-807 coded BM-C, failed to return from this operation.

Sgt R. Ainsworth RAF

F/O J. Grant RCAF

F/O R. Shiells RCAF

F/O J. Pittman RCAF

F/Sgt L. Mallory RCAF– injured

P/O J. Ash RCAF

6 crew were killed and one injured.

Source www.Rcaf.com

Click here to read the entire ops report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to see the "They Shall Not grow Old" entry for Flight Lieutenant Walter Herbert Cook

 

 

Canada's Bomber Memorial contains the names of 10,063 brave Canadian members of Bomber Command who died during World War II. To see images of the beautiful Memorial at Nanton, Alberta, click here. In the middle of this panel one can see the name of Walter Herbert Cook.

This image above from Canada's Bomber Command Memorial was taken by Lloyd and Susan Campbell.

Below is the image of the house where W.H. Cook resided in prior to enlisting. (236 Grosevenor Avenue North, Hamilton, Ontario).

house cook resided in prior to the war.

Below is the headstone for the W.H. Cook family in Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton,Ontario. This image was submitted to ancestry.ca by David Joseph Davies. Research courtesy of Susan Campbell.

headstones for cook family