Cooke, Frank Leonard

F/S Frank Leonard Cooke, fourth son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Cooke, 120 St. George St., lost his life the day before his 20th birthday, when, on May 31, 1942, the Wellington Bomber, in which he was the only Canadian, crashed over Vorden, Holland. The target for the night had been Cologne, Germany. Although officially presumed dead in January, 1943, Mr. and Mrs. Cooke learned on November 20, 1945, from reports of eye-witnesses that one of the crew had been positively identified and that the entire five members had been buried at Vorden. F/S Cooke enlisted with the R.C.A.F. in September, 1940, just after he was 18 years old. He had attended Graham Bell School and the Brantford Collegiate

Institute and Vocational School and was a good student there. He was enrolled at First Baptist Sunday School. His particular interest was pigeons and he kept a large number of various breeds as pets. He trained as a wireless air gunner at Yarmouth, Calgary, and Paulson, and went overseas in September, 1941, and was stationed at Wyton. His family made an outstanding contribution to Brant County's war effort with four other sons serving in the forces, Pte. Leslie and S/Sgt. Gilbert in the Canadian Army, Sgt. Alfred in the R.C.A.F., and A/B Donald, in the R.C.N.V.R.

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