CAPTAIN J. O. COOPER
Royal Flying Corps
The Knoll 09' - 1 y Aged 20 July 21st, 1916
Youngest son of the late Sir Alfred Cooper and of Lady Cooper, of Ossemsley Manor, Christchurch.
Captain Cooper, who was in Australia when the War broke out, immediately returned to England and joined the Royal Flying Corps. He was officially posted as 'missing' on July 21st, 1916, but was later reported by the Geneva Red Cross to have been shot down and killed on that date, while on a bombing expedition over the German lines. He was considered by all who knew him as one of the most promising men in the R.F.C., and, if he had been spared, would have got his Squadron before he was twenty-one.
His Squadron Commander wrote to his mother:
"My whole Squadron sympathises with you. I can't tell you how upset everyone is, he was so loved and respected. To me he is a very great loss, my best Flight-Commander, and the best Pilot in my Squadron. A very gallant fellow."
The sergeant in his Flight wrote:
"He was a man without fear, with the heart of a lion. If at any time there was the least idea of a machine being unfit to cross the lines, he would always test it himself before sending anyone else. He won the respect and admiration of all, from the Major to the newest joined Air Mechanic, and, come what may, we shall never get another Captain Cooper."
Entirety of this bio taken from "Harrow Memorials of the Great War: August 23rd, 1914, to March 20th, 1915."
He is listed on the Arras Flying Memorial.
Royal Flying Corps
The Knoll 09' - 1 y Aged 20 July 21st, 1916
Youngest son of the late Sir Alfred Cooper and of Lady Cooper, of Ossemsley Manor, Christchurch.
Captain Cooper, who was in Australia when the War broke out, immediately returned to England and joined the Royal Flying Corps. He was officially posted as 'missing' on July 21st, 1916, but was later reported by the Geneva Red Cross to have been shot down and killed on that date, while on a bombing expedition over the German lines. He was considered by all who knew him as one of the most promising men in the R.F.C., and, if he had been spared, would have got his Squadron before he was twenty-one.
His Squadron Commander wrote to his mother:
"My whole Squadron sympathises with you. I can't tell you how upset everyone is, he was so loved and respected. To me he is a very great loss, my best Flight-Commander, and the best Pilot in my Squadron. A very gallant fellow."
The sergeant in his Flight wrote:
"He was a man without fear, with the heart of a lion. If at any time there was the least idea of a machine being unfit to cross the lines, he would always test it himself before sending anyone else. He won the respect and admiration of all, from the Major to the newest joined Air Mechanic, and, come what may, we shall never get another Captain Cooper."
Entirety of this bio taken from "Harrow Memorials of the Great War: August 23rd, 1914, to March 20th, 1915."
He is listed on the Arras Flying Memorial.
CAPTAIN J. O. COOPER
Royal Flying Corps
The Knoll 09' - 1 y Aged 20 July 21st, 1916
Youngest son of the late Sir Alfred Cooper and of Lady Cooper, of Ossemsley Manor, Christchurch.
Captain Cooper, who was in Australia when the War broke out, immediately returned to England and joined the Royal Flying Corps. He was officially posted as 'missing' on July 21st, 1916, but was later reported by the Geneva Red Cross to have been shot down and killed on that date, while on a bombing expedition over the German lines. He was considered by all who knew him as one of the most promising men in the R.F.C., and, if he had been spared, would have got his Squadron before he was twenty-one.
His Squadron Commander wrote to his mother:
"My whole Squadron sympathises with you. I can't tell you how upset everyone is, he was so loved and respected. To me he is a very great loss, my best Flight-Commander, and the best Pilot in my Squadron. A very gallant fellow."
The sergeant in his Flight wrote:
"He was a man without fear, with the heart of a lion. If at any time there was the least idea of a machine being unfit to cross the lines, he would always test it himself before sending anyone else. He won the respect and admiration of all, from the Major to the newest joined Air Mechanic, and, come what may, we shall never get another Captain Cooper."
Entirety of this bio taken from "Harrow Memorials of the Great War: August 23rd, 1914, to March 20th, 1915."
He is listed on the Arras Flying Memorial.
Royal Flying Corps
The Knoll 09' - 1 y Aged 20 July 21st, 1916
Youngest son of the late Sir Alfred Cooper and of Lady Cooper, of Ossemsley Manor, Christchurch.
Captain Cooper, who was in Australia when the War broke out, immediately returned to England and joined the Royal Flying Corps. He was officially posted as 'missing' on July 21st, 1916, but was later reported by the Geneva Red Cross to have been shot down and killed on that date, while on a bombing expedition over the German lines. He was considered by all who knew him as one of the most promising men in the R.F.C., and, if he had been spared, would have got his Squadron before he was twenty-one.
His Squadron Commander wrote to his mother:
"My whole Squadron sympathises with you. I can't tell you how upset everyone is, he was so loved and respected. To me he is a very great loss, my best Flight-Commander, and the best Pilot in my Squadron. A very gallant fellow."
The sergeant in his Flight wrote:
"He was a man without fear, with the heart of a lion. If at any time there was the least idea of a machine being unfit to cross the lines, he would always test it himself before sending anyone else. He won the respect and admiration of all, from the Major to the newest joined Air Mechanic, and, come what may, we shall never get another Captain Cooper."
Entirety of this bio taken from "Harrow Memorials of the Great War: August 23rd, 1914, to March 20th, 1915."
He is listed on the Arras Flying Memorial.
Inscription
In Proud Memory of
Captain J. O. Cooper
Royal Flying Corps.
Killed in the Great War.
Aged 20.
Time would have brought him in her patient ways - so his young life spoke - to prosperous days. He would not wait so long. A boy. He spent his boy's dear life for England. Be content no honour of age had been more excellent.
Gravesite Details
Cenotaph plaque is posted on the exterior of the Lido Pavilion built in his honor, it is just to the east of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain. He was killed in action while carrying out a bombing raid on Epéhy Station, France.
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