Thomas Cooke

Thomas Cooke, VC (5 July 1881 – 25 July 1916) was a New Zealand-born soldier who served in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to personnel of British and Commonwealth forces.

Born in Kaikōura to English immigrants, Cooke became a carpenter after finishing school. He moved to Australia in 1912, taking his young family with him, and settled in Melbourne. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1915 and, after completing his training, embarked for the Middle East. On arrival, he was posted to the 8th Battalion. Soon his battalion was serving in the Somme sector on the Western Front. Killed during the Battle of Pozières, he was posthumously awarded the VC for his actions in staying at his post in the face of a German attack.

Early life Thomas Cooke was born in Kaikōura, New Zealand, on 5 July 1881, to Tom Cooke, an Englishman who was a carpenter, and his wife Caroline . One of at least three children,

Cooke's wife was unaware of the award of the VC to her husband until reading of it in newspaper reports. The medal was eventually presented to her by Arthur Foljambe, the Governor-General of New Zealand, in a ceremony at Government House in Wellington on 31 January 1917. His wife, who had returned to Wellington at the time of Cooke's enlistment in the AIF, later remarried. Cooke has no known grave site, but his name is recorded on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial and also on the war memorial in Kaikōura, his town of birth.