The outstanding Second World War Battle of Crete June 1941 Supply Lighter Coxswain’s “Crossing of the Mediterranean” ‘immediate’ Distinguished Service Medal and long service group awarded to Able Seaman H.F. Cook, D.S.M., Royal Navy. From Southampton, Hampshire, he saw continuous service between September 1925 and February 1950. During the Second World War he was initially out in the Indian Ocean aboard the sloop Egret that was at Laurenco Marques in East Africa and employed in hunting for raiders. Having returned home with her in January 1940, he was still aboard her when employed as escort to east coast convoys in the North Sea, and remained at this duty during the Norway campaign. In January 1941 he joined H.M.S Saunders, the Combined Training Centre Middle East, and then found himself drafted to assist in the evacuation of Crete in early June 1941 as the coxswain in charge of a ’Supply Duties’ lighter No.13. This was a ramped cargo lighter, a very small form of landing craft. Despite his vessel, that had already suffered looting after being broached to on a beach owing too a storm in Crete, and having only one engine working, a battery taken from a lorry, and a compass from a crashed aircraft, between 2 and 5 June when in charge of this vessel, he crossed the Mediterranean to Mersa Matruh in Egypt, and thus rescued some 75 army personnel who would otherwise have been stranded in danger of capture when Crete fell to the Germans. During the voyage, his vessel that was clearly on its own, encountered an Italian submarine, that took off any army officers aboard, but left the other ranks to carry on. Admiral Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, would note that Cook had performed a ‘very fine piece of work’, and his ‘immediate’ award of the Distinguished Service Medal was gazetted on 8 January 1942 ‘for outstanding Gallantry, Fortitude and Resolution during the Battle of Crete.’ He would go on to work with Combined Operation as the Coxswain of Landing Craft.
Group of 6: Distinguished Service Medal, GVI 1st type bust, officially impressed naming; (P/J.114970 H.F. COOK. A.B.); 1939-1945 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, GVI 1st type bust; (J.114970 H.F. COOK. A.B. H.M.S. SAUNDERS), mounted swing style as worn on old ribbons.
Condition: silver medals toned, overall Good Very Fine or better.
Together with the following original documentation and ephemera:
Royal Navy Parchment Certificate of Service, issued in the name of Herbert Frank Cook, covering his service between September 1925 and February 1950. This together with its original envelope also inscribed to Herbert Frank Cook.
Royal Navy Parchment Gunnery History Sheet, issued in the name of Herbert Frank Cook, with entries from March 1932 to September 1935.
Royal Navy Certificate for the Educational Test Part 1, issued to Cook, dated 7 July 1927.
A small quantity of original paperwork concerning his naval pension.
Christmas 1939 Serviceman’s Christmas Greetings Card from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Herbert Frank Cook was born on 1 February 1910 in Southampton, Hampshire, and having worked as a labourer, then joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class (Portsmouth No.J.114970) with Ganges from 3 September 1925, being still with this training establishment when rated as a Boy 1st Class on 16 May 1926. He first saw service afloat aboard the battleship Iron Duke between August 1926 and March 1927, when he transferred to the battleship Revenge as part of the Atlantic Fleet, and transferred with her to the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1927. He was rated as an Ordinary Seaman on 1 February 1928, and was then posted home to Victory from September 1928.
Having joined the light cruiser Concord from October 1928, he moved to the battleship Warspite in the following month, she being then at Portsmouth undergoing repairs after having struck a rock the previous year. He was rated as an Able Seaman aboard her on 1 August 1929, and then saw service with her as part of the Atlantic Fleet from 1930, before being posted back to the Mediterranean to join Egmont II at Malta for service aboard the destroyer Viscount with the Mediterranean Fleet from March 1931, and was with her when he qualfied as the Leading Gunner with an Anti-Aicraft gun in March 1932, and in that same month then transferred to the flotilla leader Douglas, which vessel was on service in the Mediterranean at Malta and serving as the leader of the 1st Submarine Flotilla. In May 1932 he qualified on the use of the Royal Navy-built transmitter for the 4.7 inch gun and manned that position operating the Royal Navy-built transmitter.
Cook transferred to the destroyer Wolsey in September 1932, and then continued in the Mediterranean, and in March 1933 qualified as part of the Fore Supply Party to the 4.7 inch gun whilst also manning the position of , before being posted back to Douglas from May 1933, and sailing for home with her in October 1933. Cook was posted back to Victory that same month, and then transferred to Vernon at Portsmouth for service aboard the destroyer Winchester from December 1933, being posted back to Victory in March 1934, and then to the training establishment Boscawen from September 1934. Cook was posted aboard the battleship Iron Duke from February 1935, and qualified for the duty of No.6 position on the 6 inch Mark VII gun in September 1935, in which month he was posted back to Victory, and was there at Portsmouth when he joined the destroyer Vanoc in October 1935, and remained with her until posted back to Victory in January 1936, being then posted to the sloop Enchantress in July 1936.
Cook was posted back to Victory in January 1938, and was there when assigned aboard the destroyer Arrow from late September 1938 at the time of the Munich Crisis, being stood down from her and saving back with Victory from the following month when the Crisis subsided. Having joined Excellent for service aboard the minesweeper Tedworth from later that same month of October 1938, he was posted to the sloop Egret in November 1938 and was still abroad her on the outbreak of war.
At the outbreak of the Second World War Egret was at Laurenco Marques in East Africa. She was briefly employed in hunting for raiders in the Indian Ocean before returning to the UK via Suez and Gibraltar. Cook returned home with her and was with Egret when she joined operations under Cochrane II from 21 January 1940, when based at Rosyth and employed as escort to east coast convoys in the North Sea. and remained at this duty during the Norway campaign.
Cook was posted back to Victory from 10 October 1940, and then joined Saunders, the Middle East base establishment at Kabret, on Egypt's Little Bitter Lake from 6 January 1941. Saunders was the Combined Training Centre Middle East, the equivalent of No.1 Combined Training Centre at Inveraray in Scotland. Its purpose was to train RN personnel in the operation of landing craft and together, with the troops of many Allied nations, to practice amphibious landings prior to operations against the enemy in the Mediterranean. Cook was with this establishment when he qualified for the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, though the medal was not be presented to him until 29 February 1944.
Cook was also with Saunders when he found himself drafted to assist in the evacuation of Crete in early June 1941 as the coxswain in charge of a ’Supply Duties’ lighter (S.D. Lighter), otherwise known as a ramped cargo lighter, a very small form of landing craft. Despite his vessel, that had already suffered looting after being broached to on a beach owing too a storm in Crete, and having only one engine working, a battery taken from a lorry, and a compass from a crashed aircraft, between 2 and 5 June when in charge of this vessel, he crossed the Mediterranean to Mersa Matruh in Egypt, and thus rescued some 75 army personnel who would otherwise have been stranded in danger of capture when Crete fell to the Germans. During the voyage, his vessel that was clearly on its own, encountered an Italian submarine, that took off any army officers aboard, but left the other ranks to carry on.
The recommendation for his ‘immediate’ award reads as follows: ‘H.F. Cook, Able Seaman, was coxswain in charge of S.D. Lighter No.13 which set out on 2nd June from Crete with 75 army personnel, and headed for Mersa Matruh with only Port Engine working, battery taken from lorry, and compass from crashed aircraft, gear having been looted when Lighter was broached to by a storm in Crete. The craft was intercepted next day by Italian submarine which removed all officer passengers. Landed near Mersa Matruh A.M. 5th June.’
Cook was recommended for his ‘immediate’ award of the Distinguished Service Medal on 31 July 1941 through H.M.S Stag, the base for British naval personnel in Egypt, this being further supported by the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, Admiral Cunningham, on 21 September 1941, who wrote: ‘Fully concur. A very fine piece of work.’
Cook’s ‘immediate’ award of the Distinguished Service Medal was published in the London Gazette of 8 January 1942 ‘for outstanding Gallantry, Fortitude and Resolution during the Battle of Crete.’
Cook was posted to H.M.S Copra from 15 September 1943, this being the acronym for Combined Operations Pay Records & Accounts, under which all Royal Navy personnel attached to Combined Operations came under. With this establishment he saw service on landing craft, and was rated as an Acting Coxswain Combined Operations on 1 January 1944, and confirmed as a Coxswain Combined Operations on 1 April 1944. He was then posted back to Victory at Portsmouth from 21 October 1944, at which point he relinquished his role of Coxswain Combined Operations on being discharged back to General Service.
Cook joined the shore base Raven at Southampton, Hampshire, from 8 November 1944, and served with this establishment for the rest of the war, being posted back to Victory from 6 March 1946. He was then posted across the Atlantic to the shore base Malabar at Bermuda for service aboard the frigate Wear from April 1946, and transferred with this vessel to east coast of the United Kingdom shore establishment Badger from August 1946 and located at Harwich. He then joined the repair ship Duncansby Head from October 1946 but was back with Wear from January 1947 when she was operating from the depot ship Tyne. He was still with Tyne when he transferred to the minesweeper Coquette from March 1947, and was still with Tyne when he transferred to the frigate Carnarvon Bay from October 1947, before being posted back to Victory from January 1948. He latterly saw service with Hawke, the shore establishment at Exbury in Hampshire, from January 1948 to January 1950, when he returned to Victory, being then pensioned from service on 28 February 1950.
Group of 6: Distinguished Service Medal, GVI 1st type bust, officially impressed naming; (P/J.114970 H.F. COOK. A.B.); 1939-1945 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, GVI 1st type bust; (J.114970 H.F. COOK. A.B. H.M.S. SAUNDERS), mounted swing style as worn on old ribbons.
Condition: silver medals toned, overall Good Very Fine or better.
Together with the following original documentation and ephemera:
Royal Navy Parchment Certificate of Service, issued in the name of Herbert Frank Cook, covering his service between September 1925 and February 1950. This together with its original envelope also inscribed to Herbert Frank Cook.
Royal Navy Parchment Gunnery History Sheet, issued in the name of Herbert Frank Cook, with entries from March 1932 to September 1935.
Royal Navy Certificate for the Educational Test Part 1, issued to Cook, dated 7 July 1927.
A small quantity of original paperwork concerning his naval pension.
Christmas 1939 Serviceman’s Christmas Greetings Card from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Herbert Frank Cook was born on 1 February 1910 in Southampton, Hampshire, and having worked as a labourer, then joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class (Portsmouth No.J.114970) with Ganges from 3 September 1925, being still with this training establishment when rated as a Boy 1st Class on 16 May 1926. He first saw service afloat aboard the battleship Iron Duke between August 1926 and March 1927, when he transferred to the battleship Revenge as part of the Atlantic Fleet, and transferred with her to the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1927. He was rated as an Ordinary Seaman on 1 February 1928, and was then posted home to Victory from September 1928.
Having joined the light cruiser Concord from October 1928, he moved to the battleship Warspite in the following month, she being then at Portsmouth undergoing repairs after having struck a rock the previous year. He was rated as an Able Seaman aboard her on 1 August 1929, and then saw service with her as part of the Atlantic Fleet from 1930, before being posted back to the Mediterranean to join Egmont II at Malta for service aboard the destroyer Viscount with the Mediterranean Fleet from March 1931, and was with her when he qualfied as the Leading Gunner with an Anti-Aicraft gun in March 1932, and in that same month then transferred to the flotilla leader Douglas, which vessel was on service in the Mediterranean at Malta and serving as the leader of the 1st Submarine Flotilla. In May 1932 he qualified on the use of the Royal Navy-built transmitter for the 4.7 inch gun and manned that position operating the Royal Navy-built transmitter.
Cook transferred to the destroyer Wolsey in September 1932, and then continued in the Mediterranean, and in March 1933 qualified as part of the Fore Supply Party to the 4.7 inch gun whilst also manning the position of , before being posted back to Douglas from May 1933, and sailing for home with her in October 1933. Cook was posted back to Victory that same month, and then transferred to Vernon at Portsmouth for service aboard the destroyer Winchester from December 1933, being posted back to Victory in March 1934, and then to the training establishment Boscawen from September 1934. Cook was posted aboard the battleship Iron Duke from February 1935, and qualified for the duty of No.6 position on the 6 inch Mark VII gun in September 1935, in which month he was posted back to Victory, and was there at Portsmouth when he joined the destroyer Vanoc in October 1935, and remained with her until posted back to Victory in January 1936, being then posted to the sloop Enchantress in July 1936.
Cook was posted back to Victory in January 1938, and was there when assigned aboard the destroyer Arrow from late September 1938 at the time of the Munich Crisis, being stood down from her and saving back with Victory from the following month when the Crisis subsided. Having joined Excellent for service aboard the minesweeper Tedworth from later that same month of October 1938, he was posted to the sloop Egret in November 1938 and was still abroad her on the outbreak of war.
At the outbreak of the Second World War Egret was at Laurenco Marques in East Africa. She was briefly employed in hunting for raiders in the Indian Ocean before returning to the UK via Suez and Gibraltar. Cook returned home with her and was with Egret when she joined operations under Cochrane II from 21 January 1940, when based at Rosyth and employed as escort to east coast convoys in the North Sea. and remained at this duty during the Norway campaign.
Cook was posted back to Victory from 10 October 1940, and then joined Saunders, the Middle East base establishment at Kabret, on Egypt's Little Bitter Lake from 6 January 1941. Saunders was the Combined Training Centre Middle East, the equivalent of No.1 Combined Training Centre at Inveraray in Scotland. Its purpose was to train RN personnel in the operation of landing craft and together, with the troops of many Allied nations, to practice amphibious landings prior to operations against the enemy in the Mediterranean. Cook was with this establishment when he qualified for the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, though the medal was not be presented to him until 29 February 1944.
Cook was also with Saunders when he found himself drafted to assist in the evacuation of Crete in early June 1941 as the coxswain in charge of a ’Supply Duties’ lighter (S.D. Lighter), otherwise known as a ramped cargo lighter, a very small form of landing craft. Despite his vessel, that had already suffered looting after being broached to on a beach owing too a storm in Crete, and having only one engine working, a battery taken from a lorry, and a compass from a crashed aircraft, between 2 and 5 June when in charge of this vessel, he crossed the Mediterranean to Mersa Matruh in Egypt, and thus rescued some 75 army personnel who would otherwise have been stranded in danger of capture when Crete fell to the Germans. During the voyage, his vessel that was clearly on its own, encountered an Italian submarine, that took off any army officers aboard, but left the other ranks to carry on.
The recommendation for his ‘immediate’ award reads as follows: ‘H.F. Cook, Able Seaman, was coxswain in charge of S.D. Lighter No.13 which set out on 2nd June from Crete with 75 army personnel, and headed for Mersa Matruh with only Port Engine working, battery taken from lorry, and compass from crashed aircraft, gear having been looted when Lighter was broached to by a storm in Crete. The craft was intercepted next day by Italian submarine which removed all officer passengers. Landed near Mersa Matruh A.M. 5th June.’
Cook was recommended for his ‘immediate’ award of the Distinguished Service Medal on 31 July 1941 through H.M.S Stag, the base for British naval personnel in Egypt, this being further supported by the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, Admiral Cunningham, on 21 September 1941, who wrote: ‘Fully concur. A very fine piece of work.’
Cook’s ‘immediate’ award of the Distinguished Service Medal was published in the London Gazette of 8 January 1942 ‘for outstanding Gallantry, Fortitude and Resolution during the Battle of Crete.’
Cook was posted to H.M.S Copra from 15 September 1943, this being the acronym for Combined Operations Pay Records & Accounts, under which all Royal Navy personnel attached to Combined Operations came under. With this establishment he saw service on landing craft, and was rated as an Acting Coxswain Combined Operations on 1 January 1944, and confirmed as a Coxswain Combined Operations on 1 April 1944. He was then posted back to Victory at Portsmouth from 21 October 1944, at which point he relinquished his role of Coxswain Combined Operations on being discharged back to General Service.
Cook joined the shore base Raven at Southampton, Hampshire, from 8 November 1944, and served with this establishment for the rest of the war, being posted back to Victory from 6 March 1946. He was then posted across the Atlantic to the shore base Malabar at Bermuda for service aboard the frigate Wear from April 1946, and transferred with this vessel to east coast of the United Kingdom shore establishment Badger from August 1946 and located at Harwich. He then joined the repair ship Duncansby Head from October 1946 but was back with Wear from January 1947 when she was operating from the depot ship Tyne. He was still with Tyne when he transferred to the minesweeper Coquette from March 1947, and was still with Tyne when he transferred to the frigate Carnarvon Bay from October 1947, before being posted back to Victory from January 1948. He latterly saw service with Hawke, the shore establishment at Exbury in Hampshire, from January 1948 to January 1950, when he returned to Victory, being then pensioned from service on 28 February 1950.
