| Regimental number | 882 |
| Date of birth | |
| Place of birth | Bunbury, Western Australia |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Occupation | Labourer |
| Address | Spencer Street, Bunbury, Western Australia |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 24 |
| Next of kin | Father, J A Cooke, Cowcowing via Korrelocking, Western Australia |
| Previous military service | Served for 3 years in the Western Australian Infantry Regiment; discharged by request. |
| Enlistment date | |
| Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll | |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 11th Battalion, H Company |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/28/1 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board Transport A11 Ascanius on |
| Regimental number from Nominal Roll | Commissioned |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Lieutenant |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 11th Battalion |
| Promotions |
2nd Lieutenant Unit: 11th Battalion Promotion date: Lieutenant Unit: 11th Battalion Promotion date: |
| Recommendations (Medals and Awards) |
Military Cross 'Extreme endurance and courage in establishing and maintaining communications, materially assisting success of the operation.' Recommendation date: |
| Other details from Roll of Honour Circular | Enlisted 18 August 1914; wounded Gallipoli, 5 September 1915; appointed 2nd Lt, 5 August 1916; taken on strength 11th Bn, 6 October 1914; promoted Lt, 21 November 1916. |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of death or wounding | Broodseinde, Passchendaele, Belgium |
| Age at death | 27 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 17), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 61 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: John Henry and Emily COOKE |
| Medals |
Military Cross 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He established and maintained communications under very heavy fire throughout the operations. He set a splendid example of courage and determination.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 169 Date: |
| Family/military connections | Brother: 7097 Pte Wesley John COOKE, 16th Bn, died of wounds, 31 March 1918. |
| Other details |
War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front Embarked from Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 2 March 1915. Promoted Corporal, 23 May 1915; Sergeant, 15 August 1915. Wounded in action, 5 September 1915 (large gaping wound, buttocks); admitted to 19th General Hospital, Alexandria, 9 September 1915. Embarked for England, 23 September 1915; admitted to New End Military Hospital, Hampstead, 5 October 1915. Placed on supernumerary list of NCOs, Lemnos, 1 December 1915. Taken on strength, Overseas Base, Ghezireh, 14 February 1916; rejoined 11th Bn, Serapeum, 10 March 1916. Proceeded from Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 29 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 5 April 1916. Promoted 2nd Lt, 5 August 1916; Lt, 21 November 1916. Awarded the Military Cross, 15 May 1917. Killed in action, Belgium, 7 October 1917. Medals: Military Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
