COOK, Henry

Henry Cook lived in Cradley and was a pre-war Territorial in the South Staffords. The 1/5th Battalion had experienced great losses at the Hohenzollern Redoubt in October 1915 and on the first day of the Somme in July 1916. On the 29th September 1918 they were able to reverse the account with the German forces in the breaking of the Hindenburg Line near St. Quentin. It was a famous action, carried out with great spirit and ingenuity The German forces were in steady retreat from that defeat and the armistice was only two months away. The casualties, however, included Private Henry Cook who was killed in action on that day. He was 28 years of age and is buried at Jeancourt Communal Cemetery (VI F 6) and commemorated on the Cradley and Halesowen Memorials.