LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman Thomas Joseph COOK
Service No: 435377
Born: Sydney NSW, 21 February 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 May 1943
Unit: No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School (RCAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School Bolingbroke aircraft 10181), Alberta, 18 December 1943, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Lethbridge (Mountain View) Cemetery, Alberta
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas Henry and Alice Maud Cook, of Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Auburn NSW
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Auburn District Memorial, Auburn NSW
On 18 December 1943, Bolingbroke 10181 was coming in to land at RCAF Lethbridge, when due to the proximity of another aircraft, the Pilot opened up his engines to go round again. At this point approximately 200 feet above the ground, one engine of the Bolingbroke failed. The Pilot lost control of the aircraft and it crashed some two miles beyond the airfield. All four on board were killed.
The crew members of 10181 were:
Leading Aircraftman Thomas Joseph Carroll (431088) (Aircrew 2B)
Leading Aircraftman Durrant Vern Dunlop (R/194976) (RCAF) (Trainee Aircrew)
Leading Aircraftman Thomas Joseph Cook (435377) (Aircrew 2B)
Pilot Officer William Roland Parks (J/27028) (RCAF) (Pilot)
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, 166/8/325
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line