F/S Jackson C Cooke CGM RCAF and crew – 103 Squadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1944
Failed to Return – 29th November 1944 – Avro Lancaster III – PB465 – Op Dortmund.
Also
Crashed on Return - 31st October / 1st November 1944 – Avro Lancaster I – LL964 – Op Cologne
Jackson Chartis Cooke was born on the 24th March 1924 at Grey County, Ontario, Canada and after leaving school worked in the construction industry. He enlisted in the RCAF on the 6th July 1942 at Hamilton, Ontario and was subsequently selected for pilot training. He completed this successfully on the 17th September 1943 and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
On the 8th October 1943 he sailed from New York for the United Kingdom. A further lengthy period of training followed and on the 23rd April 1944 he was posted to 28 Operational Training Unit at Wymeswold, Leicestershire where he was promoted to Flight Sergeant on the 17th June 1944. On the 17th July 1944 F/S Cooke and his crew were posted to one of the Heavy Conversion Units that made up 11 Base to complete their training.
On the 9th September 1944 the complete crew were posted to 103 Squadron at Elsham Wolds.
The crew at this time consisted of :-
F/S J C Cooke RCAF - Pilot. (Back row second from right in above crew photo)
Sgt E W McGrath RAFVR - Flight Engineer.
F/S J A Goff RCAF - Navigator.
F/S E A Mann RCAF - Air Bomber.( See above photo)
F/S F R Hill RCAF - Wireless Operator.
F/S J H L McCoubrey RCAF - Air Gunner.
F/S M O Orr RCAF - Air Gunner.
Sgt McGrath came from Dublin in the Irish Republic.
F/S Cooke was the only NCO pilot with the Squadron at this point and this was to be the case throughout his time at Elsham Wolds. It is thought that this was because his personnel file had gone astray between Canada and the UK. He started operations with his crew on the night of the 23/24th September 1944 when they took part in a raid on Neuss in Germany.
On the 31st October 1944 F/S Cooke and his crew took off in Lancaster LL964 at 17.49 hours as part of a raid to Cologne. This was their 9th operation and was to be a very eventful one. During the run up to the target the Lancaster came under heavy, accurate and sustained anti-aircraft fire. At the moment the bombs were dropped their Lancaster was hit by flak. The fuel tanks in both wings were hit and fuel was leaking out at an alarming rate but fortunately there was no fire. F/S Cooke knew that they would not have enough fuel to make it back across the North Sea to England so he flew the Lancaster back towards Allied held territory in Belgium. At this point the Flight Engineer, Sgt McGrath, informed his pilot that they were almost out of fuel already and could not continue much further. Approaching Namur in Belgium F/S Cooke gave the order to the crew to bale out whilst he was still in control of the Lancaster.
Cooke got out of the seat and prepared to bale out himself thinking all his crew had gone but was horrified to see that the mid upper gunner, F/S McCoubrey, was still in the aircraft having pulled the rip cord on his parachute accidentally whilst still inside the Lancaster. F/S Cooke immediately took over the controls of the Lancaster again and ordered F/S McCoubrey to take the spare parachute and bale out but by this time the aircraft was too low to attempt this safely.
F/S Cooke was forced to attempt a crash landing and selected a suitable field and lowered the flaps on the Lancaster. During his final approach the 2 outer engines of the aircraft spluttered to a halt but he was able to make an excellent wheels up landing with remarkably little damage to the aircraft. Neither airman was injured and fortunately they had reached safety having come down at St-Gerard, Belgium behind the Allied front line .
The other members of the crew were all safe with the exception of F/S Mann who landed behind German lines but successfully evaded. He sustained a leg injury during his landing by parachute and never flew with his old crew again.
On his return to England F/S Cooke’s bravery and skill was recognised by the recommendation that he be awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal ( Flying ). This award is very rare and, since its institution in November 1942, only 110 have been awarded. This award is restricted solely to non-commissioned officers and is second in status to the Victoria Cross for operational flying against the enemy for NCOs.
F/S Cooke and his crew, minus Air Bomber F/S Mann who was injured, resumed operations on the night of the 18/19th November 1944 taking part in a raid on Wanne-Eikel and they completed 2 more operations on the nights of the 21/22nd November and 27/28th November to Aschaffenburg and Freiburg respectively.
On the 29th November F/S Cooke and his crew flew on a daylight raid to Dortmund in Lancaster PD465. Whilst approaching the target in heavy congestion at the Cologne turning point they were involved in a collision with another Lancaster, PD313, of 550 Squadron flown by F/O Simmons and crew. The starboard rudder of F/S Cooke’s aircraft sustained serious damage and he gave the order to the crew to bale out.
F/O G T Mortimore, who was the replacement Air Bomber, managed to attach his parachute with difficulty and opened the nose escape hatch and fell out. His arm was broken during the escape but pulled the rip cord with his left hand and the parachute opened and he came down in the top branches of some tall trees. Some German soldiers nearby climbed up to release him and he was taken to a hospital in Cologne where his broken arm was treated. F/O Mortimore also sustained shrapnel wounds to his face and leg and was later to find out the Lancaster blew up immediately after he had baled out. He was spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of the Germans.
The other Lancaster involved in the collision managed to return to England on its 2 port engines alone. After a difficult flight the pilot, F/O Summons, made an emergency landing at Manston.
Sadly for F/S Cooke and the other crew members there was to be no escape and they rest together at the Reichswald War Cemetery. F/S Cooke never received his Conspicuous Gallantry Medal which was confirmed on the 2nd January 1945.
F/S Jackson Chartis Cooke CGM RCAF ( pictured below ) - Pilot – 103 Sqn – Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
Sgt Edward Walter McGrath RAFVR - Flight Engineer - 103 Sqn – Son of Thomas J. and Bridget McGrath, of Killester, Dublin, Irish Republic - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
F/S J ames Alfred Goff RCAF ( pictured below ) - Navigator - 103 Sqn – Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
F/O G T Mortimer RAFVR – Air Bomber – 103 Sqn - POW
W/O Francis Ignacious Roy Bruce Hill RCAF ( pictured below ) - Wireless Operator - 103 Sqn – Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
F/S John Herbert Charles McCoubrey RCAF ( pictured below ) - Air Gunner – 23 - 103 Sqn –Son of Maj. Jack McCoubrey, and of Florence May McCoubrey, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
F/S Melvin Osborne Orr RCAF ( pictured below ) - Air Gunner – 19 - 103 Sqn – Son of Charles Edward and Viola M. Orr, of Willow Cove, Ontario, Canada - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
F/S Jackson Chartis Cooke CGM RCAF
F/S J ames Alfred Goff RCAF
W/O Francis Ignacious Roy Bruce Hill RCAF
F/S John Herbert Charles McCoubrey RCAF
F/S Melvin Osborne Orr RCAF
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Jackson Cooke and crew were posted to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds from Heavy Conversion Unit in early September 1944. He was never commissioned because his personnel records went missing and could not be traced until after he was killed. They were lost on their 13th operation. See below :-
23-Sep-44 – Neuss - Lancaster – JB655 – Sgt JC Cooke RCAF
12-Oct-44 - Fort Frederik Hendrik - Lancaster – NF913 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
14-Oct-44 – Duisburg - Lancaster – PD272 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
14-Oct-44 - Duisburg - Lancaster - PD272 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
19-Oct-44 - Stuttgart - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
23-Oct-44 - Essen - Lancaster - JA857 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
28-Oct-44 - Cologne - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
30-Oct-44 - Cologne - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
31-Oct-44 - Cologne - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF - Crash landed on return. Flak victim. Fuel tanks and rudder damaged over the target. Crash landed in Allied held Belgium.
18-Nov-44 - Wanne Eikel - Lancaster - PB465 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
21-Nov-44 - Aschenaffenburg - Lancaster - PB465 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
27-Nov-44 - Freiburg - Lancaster - ED888 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
29-Nov-44 - Dortmund - Lancaster - PB465 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF – FTR - Collided over target with 550sq Lancaster.
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29-Nov-44 - Dortmund
103 Squadron detailed 22 aircraft for this attack on Dortmund. All aircraft took off in good weather but some cloud was encountered and on arrival in the target area it was found covered in 9/10ths cloud. No markers were seen and crews instructed by the Master Bomber to bomb visually. As a result the attack was very scattered. All bombing took place from 20000 ft. Defences were in the form of heavy flak in both predicted and barrage form and several machines were hit. F/S Cooke is missing from this operation but all other aircraft returned safely to base.
For this attack on what remained of the Nazi industrial city of Dortmund Bomber Command detailed a total of 294 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 6 Lancasters lost. Bad weather caused the marking and resultant bombing to be scattered but fresh damage was caused in Dortmund.
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Lancaster – LL964
This machine was lost on its 26th operation. Most of these were flown with the Birch crew. See below :-
25-Aug-44 - Russelheim - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
26-Aug-44 - Kiel - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
28-Aug-44 - Chappelle Notre Dame - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
29-Aug-44 – Stettin - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
31-Aug-44 - Agenville - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
03-Sep-44 - Eindhoven - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O LJC Remy
05-Sep-44 - Le Havre - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
06-Sep-44 - Le Havre - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF - Aborted by Master Bomber due to cloud cover over target.
08-Sep-44 - Le Havre - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF - Aborted by Master Bomber due to cloud cover over target.
10-Sep-44 - Le Havre - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
12-Sep-44 - Frankfurt - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
15-Sep-44 - Oslo Kattegat and River Elbe - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
17-Sep-44 - Leeuwarden - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
20-Sep-44 - Sangatte - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
23-Sep-44 - Neuss - Lancaster - LL964 - P/O SO Scott - Unable to see markers so did not bomb.
24-Sep-44 - Calais - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O DA March RCAF
27-Sep-44 - Calais - Lancaster - LL964 - P/O T MacLetchie
05-Oct-44 – Saarbrucken - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
07-Oct-44 – Emmerich - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O SO Scott
11-Oct-44 - Fort Frederik Hendrik - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O L Dale
14-Oct-44 - Duisburg - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF – ER - Engine U/S.
14-Oct-44 - Duisburg - Lancaster - LL964 - F/O JO Birch RCAF
19-Oct-44 - Stuttgart - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
28-Oct-44 - Cologne - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
30-Oct-44 - Cologne - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF
31-Oct-44 - Cologne - Lancaster - LL964 - F/S JC Cooke RCAF - Crash landed on return. Flak victim. Fuel tanks and rudder damaged over the target. Crash landed in Allied held Belgium.
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Lancaster – PB465
This machine gave good service and was lost on its 40th operation. Its first operation was on the 26th August 1944. See below
26-Aug-44 – Kiel - Lancaster – PB465 - P/O AG Frish
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Jackson Cooke
Jackson was a very bright active young man. He was a good student, athlete and horseman. He taught Sunday School and planned on going to Teachers College when peace returned. His only sibling was a brother who served in the Canadian Army - Capt. James L.Cooke.
Like all these fine young men he was greatly missed by his family and is still fondly remembered today.
Item written by David Fell. Photos from a Belgian source. Also the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. Thanks to Jim Cooke for the last photo and personal info.
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