Leslie John Cooper
Born 30 Apr 1926 - Died 13 Oct 1951
- Service number
- Jayforce 654686 AWMM
- Korea 203513 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- Korea Labourer/Civilian AWMM
- War
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- Leslie John AWMM
- Surname
- Cooper AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- —
- Service number
- Jayforce 654686 AWMM
- Korea 203513 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Religion
- —
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 30 Apr 1926 AWMM
- Date of birth
- —
- Place of birth
- —
- Birth notes
- —
- Address before enlistment
- Korea Paeroa, New Zealand AWMM
- Jayforce Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- Jayforce Mr L.A. Cooper (father), Station Road, Paeroa, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- Single/Jayforce AWMM
- Pre 10 Dec 1950 AWMM Single AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- Campaign
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- Jayforce 654686 AWMM
- Korea 203513 AWMM
- Military service
- —
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- Jayforce Turner/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
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Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- Jayforce Trooper AWMM 2nd Divisional Cavalry Regiment AWMM British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) Japan AWMM
- Korea Vessel was Ormonde AWMM Gunner/Military AWMM Royal New Zealand Artillery, 161 Battery AWMM British Commonwealth Forces Korea (Kayforce) AWMM
2nd Embarkation AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- —
- Days interned
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- Liberation date
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
- —
- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- Korea Labourer/Civilian AWMM
- Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Served with Jayforce 1946-47; Served with Kayforce 1950-51
"A New Zealand gunner was killed instantly early yesterday morning when a Chinese mortar scored a direct hit on the slit trench in which he was sheltering. He was Gunner Leslie John Cooper, of Paeroa, who before his enlistment in K-Force worked in Auckland.
Gunner Cooper was a member of a forward observation party accompanying soldiers of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. He was lying in the slit trench at about 1 o'clock in the morning when a Chinese mortar, which was bombarding the infantry positions, scored a direct hit. It was the regiment's second fatal casualty since the opening of the autumn offensive." (NZ Herald, 16 October 1951, p. 8)
"Gunner Leslie Cooper was serving in one of 161 Battery's OP parties with the Shropshires on Hill 227, when the Chinese attacked on 13 October after the heaviest bombardment yet endured by the brigade. Shortly after midnight, he was killed by a mortar bomb which landed in his slit trench." (McGibbon 1996, vol. 2, p. 220)
Gunner Cooper's nephew, Mr Ross Nicol of Tauranga, received the New Zealand Operational Service Medal on his behalf from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence at a presentation at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Thursday 27 November 2003
Transport details are for Korea (March 2010) AWMM
About death
- Death
- 13 Oct 1951 AWMM
Age 25 AWMM - Date of death
- —
- Age at death
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- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- United Nations Cemetery, Pusan, Korea AWMM
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
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- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, Hall of Memories. Korea, Malaya-Borneo. AWMM
Sources
- External links
- New Zealand Defence Force. Roll of Honour. Personnel who have died on operational service since 3 September 1945.
http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/info/roll-of-honour/index.html
Sources Used - New Zealand Navy in the Korean War. Navy Museum.
http://www.navymuseum.mil.nz/history/time/korean/default.htm
Further Reference - New Zealand History online. New Zealand in the Korean War.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/korean-war
Further Reference - J Force Wikipedia Page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Force
Further Reference - Romano, G. (2021, March 4). Jayforce: 75 years on. Auckland War Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/features/jayforce
Further Reference
- New Zealand Defence Force. Roll of Honour. Personnel who have died on operational service since 3 September 1945.
- References
- K-Force nominal roll : embarked for Korea on 'Ormonde' on 10 December 1950
- Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1950). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 16 (Embarkations from 1st January, 1946 to 30th June, 1948). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
WW2 16: WW2 27 - McGibbon, I.C. (1992-1996). New Zealand and the Korean War (Vols. 1-2). Auckland, N.Z.; Wellington, N.Z.: Oxford University Press in association with the Historical Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs.
McGibbon, I.C. (1992-1996). Volume II: Combat Operations, pp. 220, 371, 401. - Brief Notes on Recipients at NZOSM Presentation. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Defence Force.
- Hopkins, G. (2002). Tales from Korea : the Royal New Zealand Navy. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed.
- Loughnan, R. (1963). Divisional Cavalry. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- Brocklebank, L.W. (1997). Jayforce : New Zealand and the military occupation of Japan, 1945-48. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford University Press.
- Chamberlain, H. (2013). The New Zealand Korea Roll : honouring those who served in the New Zealand Armed Forces in Korea, 1950-1957. Wellington, N.Z.: Author.
- Parr, A. (2012). The occupiers : New Zealand veterans remember post-war Japan. Auckland, N.Z. : Penguin.
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