Flight
Sergeant (Temporary Warrant Officer) 512168 James
Charles Christopher Cook
He
was born on
25th
December 1911
at Thornbury Herefordshire. His civilian work was a motor driver and he had
worked for Central Garage, High
Street,
Dorking
Surrey
.
He
married Winifred Irene Dennis On
27th July 1935
at Portsea,
Portsmouth
.
They
lived at
2 Station Road
, Brockhurst.. They had 3 children Shirley Helen Maude Cook, Brian James
Dennis Cook and Patricia
Anne Cook.
He
joined the RAF on 5th
February
1930.His religion was recorded as
Church
of England.
His
home address then was
244 Gypsy Road, West
Norwood
SE27. At enlistment his height was 5 feet 11 inches with a chest size of 34
½ inches.
He
had Dark hair with brown
eyes
and a fresh complexion. There were 2 identifying marks noted, a small
fracture of the left 4th finger joint and a small mole above the
upper lip.
He
was sent to the Training Department Squadron
on enlistment and on
5th June 1930
was sent to S.T.T (
School
of
Technical Training
) for training.
On
25th November 1930
he was posted to Fort Grange, RAF
Gosport
. His trade was that of Petrol driver and was obviously involved in
refueling
exercises.
On
31st December
1931
he had made rank as Aircraftman Class 2 this he held throughout 1932 when
his character was stated to be very
good
and his proficiency was satisfactory. In 1933 when
his
character was stated to be superior, and his proficiency superior, he was
reappraised
and
recommended for promotion. This was done on
31st December 1934
and he
made
the rank of Aircraftman Class 1.
16th March 1932
he was hospitalized at
Royal
Naval
Hospital
Haslar and discharged 12th Apr1932. Haslar Farm, over the creek
from Gosport, was
bought in 1745 as the
best
available site
for the hospital.
While the relative isolation of the location in the late 1700’s – there
was no Haslar Bridge at the time – might have seemed a drawback, the
majority
of Haslar’s patients
arrived by rowing
boat from the Naval ships in the harbour or at Spithead. There are those who
assert that this
situation
gave rise to the expression “up the creek”, meaning
in a good deal of trouble; if you were taken “up the Creek” to
Haslar, then you
were likely to be in poor shape. This still applied in 1940! Many of the hospital’s historic
buildings
have survived the ravages of time and war –
the
latter possibly explained by the fact that the Luftwaffe found Haslar’s
prominent water tower a handy navigational
aid for its
bomber pilots
who
were trying to locate their Portsmouth targets.
He
was posted from Gosport to No13 (AC) Squadron on 31 st March 1933 this was a
squadron reformed
at Kenley in April 1924, the Squadron
resumed
its army co-operation
role
with Bristol Fighters and played a major role in developing co-operation
between land and air forces. Atlas',
Audaxes
and Hectors were subsequently used, before
Lysanders
arrived in 1939. As part of the BEF in France during the early part of World
War II,
No.
13 Squadron carried out tactical reconnaissance missions, before returning,
a much depleted force in May 1940.
On
the 4th April 1933 he was posted to No 2 ATC He was then admitted
to Grimsby District Hospital on the 19th April 1933 for 3 days being moved
to
Cranwell General Hospital
21st
April 1933 and discharge back to No 2 ATC on 27th April 1933. He
appears to have had some leave and was reposted back to No 2 ATC 13
Squadron
on
5th May 1933
.
On
4th October 1935
he was posted to an RAF Maintenance Unit in the
Middle East
. On 18th October 1935 he was assigned to
2 Aircraft PK
later
renamed
4 aircraft PK this was
more
than likely in
Western Iran
.
He
was then posted to HE ( ? ) on
27th December 1935
. At this time he was reappraised and his character still being very good
and his proficiency
superior
he was made up to
Leading
Aircraftman as of 31st December 1935 From
there he was posted to SH and RAF Gosport on 6th January 1936.
He
was then posted to No.2 Balloon Training unit at
Rollerstone
on
14th January 1937
. On
the 4th August 1937
he was posted to No 1 Balloon Training Unit at Cardington, Bedfordshire. On
the 20th
November
1937 he was then
posted
to No 2 Balloon Training Unit at Rollerstone. On
the 31st December 1937
he was then reappraised and his character still being very good
and
his proficiency
satisfactory
he was made up to corporal in the Balloon Command.
On
the 16th May 1938
he was posted to 908 Balloon Barrage Squadron based in Kidbrooke.
On
31st December 1938
he was he was reappraised and
his
character still being very
good
and his proficiency satisfactory he was made up to Acting Sergeant. War was
imminent and on 17th September
1939
he was sent to the Anti-gas School based at
Rollerstone
Camp. This former airfield and camp is located 4 miles north west of
Amesbury off
the
B3086 Larkhill to
Shrewton Road
. The airfield on the south side of the road
was
in use from September 1939 to July 1946 by the
RAF
Anti-Gas
School
aircraft. The technical and domestic buildings were located on the north
side of the road. Rollestone
Camp
was used from July 1916 by the
Royal
Flying Corps No 1 Balloon School to train personnel in the use of
observation balloons. Training with balloons ceased in 1939.
The
Balloon Sheds at Rollestone c.1930s
Rollestone
Camp in 1945 with the two balloon sheds
and an
aircraft hangar beside the patch of trees.
The
airfield returned to farming after World War Two and the camp was handed
over to the Army who continue to use it today. The two balloon sheds and the
aircraft hangar
survive
and are in commercial use and can be viewed from the roadside at the end of
the camp buildings.
On
the 31st December 1939 the war was in full swing and he was
reappraised and his character still being very good and his proficiency
superior he was made up to Temporary
Flight
Sergeant. On
the 1st May 1940
he was made a Warrant officer.
On
the 1st June 1940
he was sent to the Central Trade Test Board for balloons ( known by most
airmen as “Brains Trust” –
meaning Central Trades
Test Board, which
examined candidates for a higher classification.)
Subsequently, he was about to be posted to 934 Squadron when this was
cancelled
and he joined 30 Group Balloon Command
based in
London
.
He retained the
rank of warrant officer in Balloon Command through
31st December 1940
becoming a temporary Warrant Officer in Balloon
Command
right up until
31st
December 1946
, through this period his character was very good and his proficiency
superior. Throughout 1945 he
was
attached to the Central Trade Test Board for balloons.
On 31st
December 1947 he was posted from Balloon Command to Military Transport
Driving, with the rank of Temporary Warrant Officer, by now
Barrage
Balloons were not in
use, although
many were kept in readiness, and were used in places like Korea. He seems to
have been sent to
Henlow
Aerodrome in January 1949 when he was sent to the
Headquarters of
the
Engineering
Division
Technical
College
. In February 1950 he was
assigned
to No5 Personnel Dispatch Centre where he was assigned to the Middle East
Air
Force (MEAC), based at RAF
Kabrit, Suez Canal Zone,
Egypt. The OC was Air Marshal Sir Paul Holder (36054).
He continued in
this role until 1951 when he was reclassified as Flight Sergeant with rank
of Temporary Warrant Officer. He was reappraised on
31st December 1953
and his
conduct was
excellent and his proficiency superior.
He
then was posted back to the
UK
on
the 25th July 1952
and via No5 Personnel Dispatch Centre was sent to No 16 Maintenance Unit in
Stafford
from
3rd August 1952
. The
family now lived at 96 Trenchard Avenue, Beaconside,
Staffordshire
Less than a year later he was posted on
the 27th July 1953
to RAF St Eval in
Cornwall
. This
became the home of 203
squadron and following the
war
the Squadron had flown
anti-shipping
patrols around the Middle and Far East with a variety of types including
Baltimores, Wellingtons and
Liberators,
remaining in Ceylon until May 1946 when it
returned
to Leuchars and then St Eval and to re-equip with Lancasters.
He was discharged from the RAF on
4th February 1954
. Miscellaneous
notes on his file show he had a motor accident on
28 Feb 1932
and an
investigation
held on
7th April 1932
, he also had a car accident that was investigated
20th April 1934
.
His medal
entitlement was a 1939-45 Defence Medal and the 1939-45 War Medal.
He
passed away on July 1982 at Hillingdon.
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