LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Andrew Harry Theodore COOK
Service No: 400580
Born: Christchurch, New Zealand, 3 October 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 September 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Feltwell
Died: Air Operations: (No. 57 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z8985), Netherlands, 8 November 1941, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Michael and Emily Maud Cook, of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2010 hours on the night of 7 November 1941 Wellington Z8985 took off from Feltwell detailed to carry out a Rover patrol with Munster as its objective. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed near Haastrecht (Zuid Holland), 4 kms south south east of Gouda. Three of the crew members were killed and the others became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of Z8985 were:
Sergeant Andrew Harry Theodore Cook (400580) (Pilot)
Sergeant A C Crease (1251606) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant J H D Howes (905236) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant J L Ledsham (1378994) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant Alan McKillop (1067429) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Arthur Anthony Thomson (1281923) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/98/361