Harold Francis Cooke
MilitaryHarold Cooke had finished one year in college when he enlisted in the Air Corps in August 1942. Trained as a radio operator/gunner, he was sent overseas and assigned to the 92nd Bomb Group / 407th Bomb Squadron in England. He was RO/G on B-17 #42-30726 when it was shot down on the 14 October 1943 mission to Schweinfurt. Prisoner of War (POW). Liberated from Stalag Luft 1 in Germany, he was sent back home and honorably discharged from the US Army Air Forces on 10 October 1945.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18040599 and O2044434
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32513804
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38124471
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner / Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33282719
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner / Flight Engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: French
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 10601250
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 14 October 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Dunmore, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States | 2 January 1921 | the son of Harry P. and Lydia Cooke |
Enlisted |
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, United States | 8 August 1942 | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Barth, Germany | 14 October 1943 | Immediately captured after landing in parachute near Kembach, Germany. Interned at Stalag Luft 1, Barth, Germany - NARA WWII POW records: returned to Military Control 12 July 1945. |
Died |
20 November 1960 | ||
Dunmore, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States | |||
Buried |
Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States |
Revisions
MACR 846
US 1940 Census
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 846 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database