A D-Day veteran who recently died in Lymm aged 98, is being given a special military send-off in Warrington.
Frederick Arthur Cooke passed away peacefully on April 8th at Keate Nursing Home in Lymm and will now be given a special send-off at Walton Lea Crematorium, on Wednesday, April at 1:20 pm.
Members of the public are invited to attend to show their support for a military veteran, who served his country with pride in the Royal Navy.
Fred was born in Birkenhead on 28th January 1924.
He wanted to go to sea since leaving school and took the opportunity to enlist in the Royal Navy during World War 2 as soon as he could.
He served at a number of shore establishments and then trained on British beaches for the D-Day Landings. He went into France aboard the Landing Craft LCT2289 as the Signaller ferrying troops and tanks to the Normandy beaches.
He told his family only a few stories about the War but one was how frighteningly noisy it was with missiles and bullets flying overhead. This probably led to his poor hearing later in life.
However, he was so proud to have served his Country and forever spoke of his love of the Navy.
He was a family man who loved his wife, three sons, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He ended the War contracting tuberculosis and spent about a year in a Sanatorium in Cheshire recuperating.
He was to have a number of serious illnesses throughout his life but was such a fighter that he never gave up even when doctors only gave him a five percent chance to pull through.
His family began to nickname him “the cat” as he seemed to have so many lives. He even contracted Covid-19 in April 2020 (pre-vaccine) at the age of 96 but recovered after 14 days of isolation and in his usual way, he said he didn’t know what all the fuss was about!
Son Derek said: “He will be missed so much by his family who loved and adored him.
“He would be honoured that he is set to get such a magnificent send-off and his family would like to thank the Veterans and the Royal Navy for their tremendous support.”
As well as Standard-bearers there will be bugler Alan Brown and Piper Brodie Savage, who has been organised by local Veteran supporter Julie Francis.
Julie said: “We all need to thank our fallen of that generation, it’s the least we can do!”
