Cook, George Denys

George Denys Cook was the son of Reginald and Mary (nee Lyddell) Cook and was born in Kaponga on 17 July 1922. He attended New Plymouth Boy's High School and then worked for the Social Security Department and was involved with Scouts and the New Plymouth Tramping Club and played rugby for the Star Football Club.

As a young man in New Plymouth, George had flown with famous aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and this experience had sparked a desire to learn to fly. Therefore at the outbreak of World War Two he enlisted as a Naval Airman 2nd class and travelled to England to train at HMS St Vincent, Portsmouth. He served with the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve, 759 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, HMS Heron.

Midshipman Cook tragically lost his life in an aircraft accident, 8 April 1942, while training in the UK. He was 19 years old. He is buried at the St Bartholomew Churchyard, Yeovilton, Somerset, England.

In Lest We Forget by Jack West, its biography on Cook recalls: "Fifty years after his death the name of Denys Cook evokes wistful looks in the eyes of people who knew him. He is remembered as a fine, very pleasant young man who deserved better of life than to have only 19 years of it."

Books

Lest we Forget, a tribute by New Plymouth Boy's High School, New Plymouth, to the 227 men of the School who died while serving their Country during the Second World War, 1939-1945, by Jack West, TRCT940.5467 WES