Thomas Edward Cook
Memorial: Thornbury & District Museum: 6th Maritime Regiment Memorial
Regiment: 6th Maritime Regiment
Medals: 1939–45 Star, War Medal 1939–1945
Rank and number: Gunner
Parents: William and Maud Elizabeth Cook
Marital status: Married
Home address: Lived: The Lycetts, Market Place, Calne, Wiltshire
Pre-war occupation: Stone Machinist
Date of birth: 30/08/1912
Date of death: 21/02/1942
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 29
Further information:
Thomas’s father was an army pensioner and Thomas had 2 older brothers. He married Ellen May Gatehouse in 1938 and together they had 2 children.
On the day of his death, Thomas was serving aboard the unescorted Norwegian motor tanker the Kongsgaard, which was on its way from Tenerife to Curacao carrying a cargo of 15,600 tons of light crude oil. At 15.32 hours on 21 Feb 1942 the vessel was hit by a torpedo from U-boat U-67 seven miles west of Noordpunt, Curaçao. The cargo caught fire, sending flames high into the sky. Some men managed to lower the starboard boat and row quickly away, after having fished others out of the sea. The U-boat fired a further torpedo at 19.30 hours, which caused the tanker to sink about seven miles west of North Point. The master and seven survivors in the lifeboat were rescued by a fishing vessel three hours later and taken to Curaçao. A 9th survivor was also picked up, who had jumped off the boat and swam through the flames to reach open water. There were 37 fatalities including Thomas.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1015.html