Cyril Cooke

Air Marshal Sir Cyril Bertram Cooke, KCB, CBE (28 June 1895 – 27 September 1972) was a senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Maintenance Command from 1947 to 1949.

Sir Cyril Cooke
Born(1895-06-28)28 June 1895
Died27 September 1972(1972-09-27) (aged 77)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army (1914–18)
Royal Air Force (1918–49)
Years of service1914–49
RankAir Marshal
Commands heldMaintenance Command (1947–49)
No. 43 Group (1945–46)
No. 4 School of Technical Training (1942–44)
No. 206 (Maintenance) Group (1941–42)
No. 6 School of Technical Training (1939–40)
No. 20 Squadron (1924–25)
No. 188 Squadron (1918–19)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in Despatches (2)
RelationsAir Vice Marshal John Cooke (son)

Military career

Cooke served with the Royal Artillery during the First World War, transferring to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915.[1] He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 188 Squadron in April 1918 on the formation of the Royal Air Force.[1] He went on to be Officer Commanding No. 20 Squadron in 1924, a wing commander at the No. 1 School of Technical Training in 1935 and Officer Commanding, No. 6 School of Technical Training in 1939.[1]

He served in the Second World War as Chief Maintenance Officer at Headquarters RAF Middle East from February 1941, as Air Officer Commanding No. 206 (Maintenance) Group from June 1941 and as Air Officer Commanding No. 4 School of Technical Training from December 1942 before becoming Director of Technical Training at the Air Ministry in June 1944 and Director of Maintenance and Supply at Rear Headquarters Mediterranean Allied Air Forces in December 1944.[1] He finished the war as Air Officer Commanding No. 43 Group.[1]

After the war he was appointed Director-General of Servicing and Maintenance at the Air Ministry and then Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Maintenance Command before retiring in 1949.[1][2]

Personal life

He took part in the National Shooting Competition at Bisley[3] and was Chairman of the Royal Air Force (County) Football Association.[4]

He was the father of John Cooke. His son also joined the RAF and rose to senior ranks as Dean of Air Force Medicine.[5]

gollark: For sending reports and such they'd just use their radios.
gollark: An alert for whom?
gollark: I see.
gollark: How do you know what cardiac arrest is like exactly?
gollark: They shouldn't really beep.

References
  1. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Cyril Cooke
  2. New A.O.C.-in-C, Maintenance Command Flight International, 20 October 1949
  3. Senior Entrant Flight International, 17 June 1948
  4. Royal Air Force (County) Football Association Handbook 2010–11 p. 8 Archived 15 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Air Vice-Marshal John Cooke". The Times. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Grahame Donald		 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Maintenance Command
1947–1949		 Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Warne-Browne
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