Frederick Edward Cooke

A Lieutenant attached to the 12th Battalion Devonshire Regiment (Airborne), Frederick died on 7th of January 1945 at the age of 29.

Frederick was born at Walthamstow on 9 March 1915, a son of George and Edith Alice Cooke. He was baptised at Hermon Hill, South Woodford, on 16 January 1916. In 1939 his family lived at 83 Station Road, Chingford, and Frederick was a student. The 1939 register shows that Frederick was a member of the A.R.P.  

Frederick married Eunice Mary Vale, of Walthamstow, in late 1939. 

Frederick served in the Royal Artillery, number 974233, before attending, from 21 December 1940, 168 Officer Cadet Training Unit. He was commissioned in the Border Regiment on 29 March 1941 (London Gazette 15 April 1941). 

Frederick was commissioned in the Border Regiment but was attached to the 12th Battalion Devonshire Regiment. This battalion was a parachute, or airborne, battalion that had been trained for glider landings. It is possible that he joined the 12th Battalion before D-Day, in which cause he would have been involved in the Normandy landings. The battalion was withdrawn, to England, in September 1944, but returned to France in September 1944. 

Frederick was one of three men of the 12th Battalion killed on 7 January 1945. They were all initially buried at Resteigne Temporary Burial Ground, Belgium, and in 1947 were reburied at Hotton War Cemetery.  

Subsequently Eunice lived at South Lowestoft, Suffolk. She remarried in 1951. 

Note that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website states that Frederick served with the 7th Battalion Border Regiment (this battalion did not serve overseas), while original War Graves Commission documents (on the website) do not state his battalion in the Border Regiment but clearly show that he was attached to the 12th Devons.