William James Cooke

Bill Cooke started his posting training service with the 1/4th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. On 10 Jan 1942 he was posted to Auxiliary Units and attached to 916 (AA) Company RASC at Wickham for pay, rations and discipline. Terry Daly recalled Bill Cooke as a member of the Hampshire Regiment Scout Section based at Wickham. 

In 1984, Bill Cooke recalled his time there,  “Ah, the comradeship. You didn’t realise how great it was.”

As the Scout Sections were being reduced in size in April 1943, Terry Daly and Bill Cooke joined the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment. They were sent to Hardwick Hall near Chesterfield, the Parachute Regiment Depot, before going to Ringway for their Parachute Course.

On 17 Apr 1943 he embarked for North Africa, their convoy arriving 10 days later. Five months later the unit returned to the UK. Hospitalised at Shaftesbury Military Hospital on 23 Feb 1944 he was sent afterwards to the Airborne Forces Holding Unit to await posting. 

Bill Cooke was recruited to Bill Stirling’s 2 SAS on 12 Jul 1944.  This is later than many other former Auxiliary Units men and he was likely recruited direct from the Airborne Holding Unit. He served on a series of operations, including Operation Jonquil, an operation to evacuate escaped allied prisoners of war from Italy's Adriatic coast by boat, which had very limited success. He also served on Operation Trueform 1 and later Operation Archway in Germany. He was then sent to Norway as part of Operation Apostle, to help disarm German troops there after VE Day. While in Norway, he played for the “SAS Wanderers” 2 SAS football team. He arrived back in the UK on 30 Aug 1945.

When 2 SAS was disbanded, he was posted to a holding unit on 23 Nov 1945, before joining 11th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.

He was released on 20 Jun 1946 at Aldershot with the rank of Lance Corporal. His discharge testimonial stated “A good capable NCO and man. A very hard worker and a keen sportsman.”