Peter Cochrane

James Aikman 'Peter' Cochrane, DSO, MC (12 May 1919 – 5 December 2015) was a Scottish soldier who was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order during the Second World War. He later had a career in book publishing and printing and wrote a well-received account of his war-time experiences.

Early life James Aikman Cochrane was born in Glasgow on 12 May 1919, the only son of Margarita Cochrane and Major James Aikman Cochrane. His mother decided that he should be known as "Peter" to differentiate him from his father and a cousin. He spent his early years at his father's posting in the Far East, and was later educated at Loretto School in Edinburgh. In 1938 he went up to Wadham College, Oxford University, where he read law but left to join the army before he could graduate.

Second World War

Cochrane was commissioned into the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (QOCH) in February 1940 and joined the 2nd Battalion of the regiment in Egypt soon afterwards. On 22 October, during the start of the Western Desert Campaign, he and his men were ordered to test the strength of the enemy in a raid on an Italian position near Sidi Barrani. They found vehicles rather than the expected enemy fortifications, and destroying the vehicles, withdrew to base on board the last remaining one. Their interpreter was a Libyan prisoner conversant in Italian. As soon as they started their withdrawal, they were shelled and mortared by enemy positions with rifles. The Libyan driving the vehicle proceeded very slowly stuck in bottom gear, forcing them to abandon the lorry in a wadi. Cochrane ordered his men to disable the vehicle under heavy shelling and tracer rounds. On his return to Company HQ with his small group he was recommended for and received a Military Cross for "coolness, resource and initiative under fire beyond praise" in that action.

In early 1941, the battalion, part of Brigadier Reginald Savory's 11th Indian Infantry Brigade of Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse's 4th Indian Infantry Division, was engaged in a push through Italian Eritrea to dislodge Mussolini's Italian forces from the country. They faced particularly stiff opposition during the advance on Keren, a strategic port located nearby on the Red Sea at Massawa. On 3 February 1941, Cochrane, still only a second lieutenant, commanded two platoons that succeeded in taking a piece of high ground, later known as "Cameron Ridge", that was required to direct forward artillery fire. The Commanding Officer (CO) of the other platoon had been wounded near the start of the action. In what The Glasgow Herald described as a "lone attack", Cochrane destroyed two Italian machine gun positions single-handedly with grenades, killing the 13 occupants.

In March 1941, Cochrane was required to advance to higher ground behind Cameron Ridge. Under artillery and mortar fire, he reached the top with just three men, one of whom was immediately killed. All of the survivors were wounded by shell fire with Cochrane receiving injuries to his head, arm and both legs. He was captured and loaded onto a mule, falling off three times; and then taken to an Italian hospital in Asmara. The doctors brought the unwelcome news that he must choose amputation of both legs or surgery on the gangrenous parts. Without anaesthetic he had to undergo the terrible procedure. Asmara was liberated on 8 April when the 5th Indian Infantry Division took the city, unable to walk, he was again the object of a surgical operation, but this time by a British doctor. He was evacuated to Britain on a journey that took three months by ship. was appointed CO of "C" or ("Charlie") Company. He sailed with the battalion for service in the Italian Campaign in early 1944. The battalion, which soon became part, once again, of the 11th Indian Brigade of the 4th Indian Division, now commanded by Major-General Francis Tuker, fought at Hill 593 during the Battle of Monte Cassino A lifelong Episcopalian, his funeral was held at the St Michael and All Saints Church in Edinburgh, part of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Selected publications Digest of British history. Newman Neame, London, 1954. (With Louise Cochrane) Dr. Johnson's printer. The life of William Strahan. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964. Charlie company: In service with 'C' company, 2nd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 1940–44. Chatto & Windus, London, 1977. Scottish military dress. Blandford, Poole, 1987. (Illustrated by Jeffrey Burn)