Thomas Cooke
Died 28 Jul 1916
- Service number
- WWI 3055 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- Private AWMM Australian Imperial Force (AIF), 8th Battalion AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- Thomas AWMM
- Surname
- Cooke AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- —
- Service number
- WWI 3055 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Religion
- Church of England, Christian AWMM
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- —
- Date of birth
- —
- Place of birth
- —
- Birth notes
- —
- Address before enlistment
- Pre 15 Feb 1915 AWMM Brooklyn, Wellington, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- Mrs Maude Elizabeth Cooke (wife), C/o Miss Richardson, 139 Ohiro Road, Brooklyn, Wellington, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- Pre 26 Nov 1915 AWMM Married AWMM
Married, 3 children AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- Battle of the Somme AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 3055 AWMM
- Military service
- Wellington Garrison Band AWMM
- 24 (Auckland) Infantry Battalion AWMM
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- Victoria Cross (VC) AWMM
Victoria Cross (VC): 3055 Corporal Thomas Cooke, 8th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force (AIF). "For most conspicuous bravery. After a Lewis gun had been disabled, he was ordered to take his gun and gun-team to a dangerous part of the line. Here he did fine work, but came under very heavy fire, with the result that finally he was the only man left. He still stuck to his post, and continued to fire his gun. When assistance was sent he was found dead beside his gun. He set a splendid example of determination and devotion to duty." (The London Gazette," 8 September, 1916) AWMM - British War Medal (1914-1920) AWMM
- Victory Medal AWMM
- Victoria Cross (VC) AWMM
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 15 Feb 1915 AWMM
Age 33 AWMM
Builder/Civilian AWMM - Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
- —
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 Vessel was Commonwealth AWMM Private AWMM 8 Battalion AWMM Australian Imperial Force (AIF) AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
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- Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
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- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Height, Unknown Period AWMM
5 foot 5.80 inches AWMM - Weight, Unknown Period AWMM
10 stone 5 pounds AWMM - Eye colour, Unknown Period AWMM
Light brown AWMM - Hair colour, Unknown Period AWMM
Black AWMM - 28 Jul 1916 {Age 35} AWMM Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
- Height, Unknown Period AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- Private AWMM
Australian Imperial Force (AIF), 8th Battalion AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Married to Maude Elizabeth Cooke nee Elliott; father of Ethel Maude b 1903; Thomas Reginald Arthur Cooke b 1904, Florence Mildred b 1907.
Aged 33 years 7 months at enlistment
Taken on strength, 8th Bn, Serapeum, 24 February 1916.
Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 26 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 31 March 1916.
Killed in action, France, 28 July 1916.
Posthumously awarded Victoria Cross.
Note on Red Cross File No 0790910Q: 'No trace Germany.
Certified by Capt. Mills. 10.10.19.'
Medals: Victoria Cross, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Died whilst "In the machine gun section and was in the dangerous part of the line under the heaviest fire" (ARC, 1DRL/0428)
Buried in the field in the vicinity of the Pozures Nailleur Bapaume Road.
Maude, his widow wrote to the Minister of Defence, Melbourne, on 20th September 1916 three weeks after receiving a cable of her husband's death, writing that the Australian and New Zealand newspapers had reported "that he has won the VC & it is the only word I have of it, why hasn't the officials let me his wife know."
The Victoria Cross was presented to his widow by the Governor.
In 1922 Maude remarried Thomas Ebenezer Clapperton (6/599), a veteran.
His medals are held by the National Army Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand. His wife's name is spelled variously as Maude and Maud by BDM AWMM
About death
- Death
- 28 Jul 1916 AWMM
Age 35 AWMM - Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- —
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- —
- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Somme, France AWMM
- Marlborough War Memorial, 20 Seymour Street, Blenheim, 7201 AWMM
- Marlborough Great War Memorial, WW1 AWMM
Sources
- External links
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
http://www.cwgc.org
Sources Used - Australian War Memorial databases. Research a person index.
http://www.awm.gov.au/find/index.asp
Sources Used - Births, Deaths and Marriages (New Zealand) Historical Records online
https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Sources Used - National Archives of Australia. Military Service Record.
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=1935349
Further Reference - National Army Museum, Waiouru
http://www.armymuseum.co.nz/
Further Reference - Australian War Memorial. Embarkation Roll
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awm8/23/41/awm8-23-41-2-0346.pdf
Further Reference - Australian War Memorial. Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau files, 1914-18 War. 1DRL/0428. pdf
http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/1DRL428/00008/1DRL428-00008-0790910.pdf
Further Reference - Birkenhead (Auckland) Returned Services Association website. Victoria Cross.
http://www.birkenheadrsa.com/victoria-cross.html
Further Reference - Wikidata Entity
http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7788594
Further Reference
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- References
- Harper, G., & Richardson, C. (2006). In the face of the enemy: The complete history of the Victoria Cross and New Zealand. Auckland, N.Z.: HarperCollins NZ.
Harper, G. & Richardson, C. (2006). p.101-102 - The Register of the Victoria Cross. (1997). (3rd ed.). Cheltenham, England: This England.
The Register of the Victoria Cross. (1997). (3rd ed.). p. 69 - AIF Peter Dennis, UNSW Canberra
- Harper, G., Clements, C., & Johns., R. (2019). For King and Other Countries: The New Zealanders Who Fought in Other Services in the First World War. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University Press.
p. 138,140 - Harper, G., Clements, C., & Johns., R. (2019). For King and Other Countries: The New Zealanders Who Fought in Other Services in the First World War. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University Press.
- Burdon, R. (1959). 24 Battalion. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- 24 N.Z. Infantry Battalion Association [newsletter]. Auckland, N.Z.: The Association.
- Fortune, G. & Bebich, M. (2008). Citizenship and remembrance : a history of the 24 NZ Infantry Battalion Association. Auckland, N.Z.: Polygraphia.
- Harper, G., & Richardson, C. (2006). In the face of the enemy: The complete history of the Victoria Cross and New Zealand. Auckland, N.Z.: HarperCollins NZ.
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