Rear Admiral John Gervaise Beresford Cooke CB

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

(19 October 1911 – 30 January 1976) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer who became

Naval Secretary The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy officer who advises the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on naval officer appointing (and General Officers). Their counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary. The Royal Air Force equi ...

Naval career

Cooke was the son of Justice John Fitzpatrick Cooke and Eleanora Caroline Lucia Macky. Educated at Marlborough College and the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

, Cooke joined the

in 1925 and specialised in gunnery.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in destroyers and at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

. After the War he was given command of the sloop HMS ''Modeste'' and then the destroyer HMS ''Finistere'' and then moved to the Naval Ordnance Department of the Admiralty. He was given command of the destroyers HMS ''Broadsword'' and then HMS ''Battleaxe'' between 1950 and 1951 and then joined the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1952. He went on to be deputy director of Naval Ordnance at the Admiralty in 1955, Commander of the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment in 1959 and Assistant Naval

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

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in 1961. His last appointments were as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Warfare) at the Admiralty in 1963 and as

in 1966 before he retired in 1968. In retirement he lived in Owlesbury in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

Family

In 1941, he married Helen Beatrice Cameron, granddaughter of Sir

William Gordon Cameron General Sir William Gordon Cameron ( Chinese translated Name: 金馬倫; 16 October 1827 – 2 March 1913) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Military career William Gordon Cameron was commissioned into the 42nd (Royal Highland ...

. They had three sons, including Jonathan Gervaise Fitzpatrick Cooke of the

, and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Gervaise 1911 births 1976 deaths People educated at Marlborough College Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Military personnel from London