This is the story of Alan Cook, my wife Diane’s uncle (her mother Nancy’s brother). It is a story I have been meaning to write for many years, but I have been putting it off, mainly because I have a lot of information about him but needed to sit down and condense it.

Alan had a tragic ending, disappearing without trace as a bomber pilot in the Second World War. It was not until sixty years later that the circumstances of his disappearance have been deduced, leading at last to closure for the family.

This article follows his early life, prior to his signing up for service as a pilot. It will outline his experiences and character to possibly explain why he signed up. A later article will follow that service as a pilot and the probable cause of his death.

My sources of information

I have had miscellaneous sources of information, however the main source is Allan Fairlie, a son in law of Alan Cook’s brother Wal. Allan has written a masterly short book about Alan Cook, which I have drawn upon heavily for this article.

Alan Cook’s childhood

Alan was born in the gold mining town of Ballarat (in the north of Victoria, Australia) in 1914, his parents being Walter and Ellen Cook, and his siblings being Walter, Jean, Grace, Nancy and Verna. From 1920 to 1927 he attended Dana Street Primary School, until the family moved to Horsham, in the north west of the State where he attended Horsham High School until 1930.

In 1930 Alan sat for his Intermediate Certificate. His results were excelllent. According to the Horsham Times he obtained passes in nine subjects (English, History, Commercial Principles and Practice, Maths, Drawing, Algebra, Geography, Geometry, French). This equalled the best results in the school, and Alan featured in the awards for his class at the High School Speech Night. With the Great Depression deepening and his father’s health deteriorating, Alan, now 15, was required to help in the family business, described below. He did however sit for and pass the examination for the Leaving Certificate in Commercial Principles.

Alan’s father buys a general store

Alan’s father bought a General Store in Horsham in 1928, and after completing his studies Alan worked there, initially as a delivery boy. The whole family worked hard to make the business, named rather predictably Cook’s Store, a success. However Alan’s father died in 1931 and the family, led very capably by Walter Jnr (“Wal”) at the age of 24, had to put much of their energy into running the store.

In the below photo we see Grace (4^th from the left) and Jean, Alan and Wal (right hand end). The photo shows a total of 10 employees excluding Nancy and Verna, so it was quite a big operation.

Alan’s brush with the law

The Horsham Times of 9^th September 1932 reported that young Alan had been charged with the heinous crime of riding on the footpath. Alan told the Horsham Police Court that he was on the round for orders for Cook’s Store and the roads were muddy. The Bench admitted that the road (Baillie Street) was in a bad state but a fine of 2/6 was still imposed.

Alan would have been about 19 at the time. The Bench seemed to concede that Alan had a good reason for riding on the footpath but, assuming that Alan had pleaded guilty, in those days the Bench had no option but to record a conviction.

Let that be a lesson for you, young Harry!

I will now jump ahead to 1998 because it provides a link with Alan’s later career.

My wife Diane and I visited Horsham in 1998, calling in on the Horsham Historical Society one afternoon, which was fortuitously the only afternoon it opened. When we explained our mission we were introduced to an elderly lady. We knew we had struck gold when we started to explain to her that Diane was related to Alan when out of the blue she said simply “You must be Nancy’s daughter”. Bingo!

She told us that she knew Alan quite well because she was a fellow student at Horsham High School. The true value of locating her was borne out by her quickly turning up the Horsham Times announcement of Alan’s disappearance, followed by her suggestion that we speak to Allan Searle, a former employee of the Horsham Times and one of the two survivors of the original group of six men who had signed up with Alan. She rang Allan’s daughter and arranged for us to go to his home and meet him. Allan Searle was very elderly but completely lucid.

Allan Searle’s reminiscences about Alan Cook started with Alan’s adventures with a biplane (perhaps this provided a warning sign about Alan’s later career)!

The Horsham Red Barons

Alan had a mate Bob Iredale who (according to Allan Searle) had bought a biplane, which Allan said “had a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour in a strong tailwind”. Alan Cook and Bob became notorious for buzzing the town in the little plane.

In retrospect this showed Alan’s love of flying which became particularly relevant to his Air Force later career, and it also highlighted the significance of Bob Iredale, who became a flying ace in the Second World War.

You will be hearing a lot more about Bob in this article and a later article.

Alan Cook and Bob were a members of the local Fire Brigade, and were involved in the notorious Black Friday bushfires of 13^th January 1939 where 76 people perished. Alan and Bob volunteered to go up into the nearby Grampian Mountain Range in their little plane on an adventurous mission to locate bushfires. Upon their return they drove back up into the Grampians with their fellow crew members in the Horsham Fire Truck. Although the fires came close to them they survived, returning victoriously the next day to very relieved families.

Alan’s adventurous nature also came to the fore with his love of horseriding.

Alan the horseman

Nancy (my mother-in-law, and Alan’s sister) mentioned that Alan was keen on horse riding, particularly on overnight trips in the nearby Grampians Ranges.

I have seen a photo of Alan on a horse in front of a stockman’s hut. Alan had his usual cheeky look, and the horse looked equally lively. Shades of the “Man from Snowy River”!

This horseriding demonstrated Alan’s love of adventure.

Now we come to Alan’s crowning achievement, owning and driving a fast car, which again, in retrospect, perhaps helps to explain his later career.

Alan the sportsman

Alan was also heavily involved in the life of the town, being active in the Church of England and a number of sporting and service clubs. In 1933, when not yet 19, he was elected as the Secretary and Treasurer of the newly formed Horsham Basketball Association and he remained active, both playing and as an official, for many years.

He contributed to Horsham’s Church of England community in a number of ways: he was a committee member and ultimately a Vice-President of the Men’s Society (CEMS); he was a committee member of the Tennis Club, and he was elected auditor of the Cricket Club. He taught a class in the Sunday School, and was a leader in the Boy’s Society. In addition to a busy social life, Allan regularly played basketball, tennis, football and cricket for CEMS or local town teams. He also tried his hand at golf and carpet bowls.

Alan found time to contribute to the local Apex Club, was elected to the portfolio of “Commissariat” in 1936. Alan and Bob Iredale were on the organising committee for the 1939 Apex Club Ball, which was a great success with over 300 people attending, the star attraction being the Australasian Dancing Champions.

The Buick Straight Eight

Alan owned an American car, which my wife’s brother Alan Lenton thinks was an impressive Buick Straight Eight Coupe. This photo illustrates its sleek lines and generous interior dimensions.

The legendary Buick Straight-Eight engine (known rather flamboyantly as the “Fireball 8”) was produced from 1931 to 1953 and sold in Buick automobiles. Like many American automobile makers, Buick adopted the eight cylinder engine in 1931 as a more powerful alternative to the previous “straight-six” engines.

A long bonnet, needed to cover the straight eight cylinders, gave a heightened image of power. The standard 1934 to 1936 models had an engine capacity of 233 cu inches (3.8 litres), which was certainly much larger than most other cars.

This car was in a completely different league to the popular (but sedate) T-Model Fords which would have dominated Horsham.

The Buick was a luxury car, with (according to Bruce Fairlie) a new price in 1936 of almost £500. Second-hand prices for a 1934 model were still quite high at around £300–£350. This was at a time when £1000–£1500 would buy a six-roomed house in one of the better suburbs of Melbourne.

Alan rolls his car

There is a rumour that Alan rolled this car on the Grampian Mountains Road. In support of this I saw a photo of Alan with a big cheeky grin (a hallmark of Alan’s), nonchalantly standing in a bush clearing with his foot resting on the bumper bar of a car that was rather the worst for wear, with damaged panels on its sides and roof. The car had obviously been rolled and it would be reasonable to assume that the unapologetic Alan had been its pilot.

Modern-day readers may not be aware that in those days all roads, including highways, were unsealed. In wet weather they were quite treacherous.

Bruce Fairlie believes that Alan was in fact involved in four accidents, either as driver or passenger, an impressive record by anyone’s standards, and Bruce has located two newspaper reports of accidents, as follows:

This was the caption to a Horsham Times report in February 1934 that “when the steering failed on a car which they were travelling in near Mansfield on Thursday, Messrs. Alan Cook and George Latimer, both of Horsham, had remarkable escapes from serious injury. The car somersaulted down a 20-foot embankment and was heavily damaged. The two occupants kept their seats, but received severe shaking and bruises. They were fortunate, however, to escape with such light injuries”.

A later Horsham Times report tells us that “at about 10:00 p.m. on the evening of Tuesday 5 December 1939, Alan Cook and Bob Iredale were involved in a serious car accident while returning from Rupanyup. As they approached Murtoa the steering wheel failed and the car, out of control, swung off the road and completely overturned, finally ending up on its wheels. The car was extensively damaged, but fortunately neither occupant was seriously injured.”

Readers might query why Alan had so much trouble with failed steering!

I will now turn from the flamboyant Alan to the more conventional Alan.

Alan the punter

According to Nancy’s husband Maurice Lenton, Alan was a keen (and successful) punter.

Perhaps Alan’s love of betting indicated an element of risk-taking relevant to his later career.

Phar Lap

According to Nancy, an elderly customer asked Alan if he could put a small bet for her on the legendary Phar Lap. When the horse won she asked Alan to keep putting the proceeds on the horse for future races. Although no doubt the odds shortened as the horse became better known, the lady’s original investment grew. When Phar Lap finished racing in Australia Alan gave her the proceeds, and the grateful lady gave Alan a photo of the horse.

Alan the taxi driver

Alan and his sister Nancy were very close. They were much the same age, and shared a love of parties, dances and balls. Alan would accompany the vivacious Nancy to functions in nearby towns and ensure that she returned home safely. He often took his other sisters as well.

Nancy told us that sometimes after returning home early in the morning from a Friday night party in a neighbouring town they would get changed at home into office clothes and immediately go straight to “Cook’s Store” for Saturday morning business, dragging themselves around for the rest of the day.

Nancy had an anecdote about younger sister Verna who had been transported home late one night from a party in a very intoxicated state. While one of the siblings kept the parents (who were very strict) occupied in the front of the house the others crept in the back door, carrying her, and put her in her bed fully clothed, pulling up the blankets so that they covered her clothes.

Alan the prankste

This is a photo of Green Lake, with the Grampian Range in the far distance.

Cook’s store had a delivery truck. Nancy told us stories about the truck, particularly how Alan would take the Sunday School children on picnics to Green Lake in it.

Alan had a trick where he could lift the steering wheel off the column (presumably he could undo the nut holding the steering wheel on the column beforehand). On one occasion when a Sunday School boy asked Alan if he could have a turn at driving the truck Alan handed the amazed boy the steering wheel.

Walking in Alan’s footsteps

When my wife and I visited Horsham in 1998 we made a point of following in Alan’s footsteps, visiting the Cook’s Store, the Church of England church and the Royal Hotel. Diane’s father used to stay at the Royal Hotel and after work would often have a beer with Alan in the bar. Diane and I stood in the bar and toasted him, standing in the exact place that Alan would have stood. This was very moving.

Conclusion

In a later article I will tell you about Alan’s Air Force career as a Wellington Bomber pilot and the mystery surrounding his death.