Date of birth:

1917

Date of death:

2004

Service number:

39499

Nationality:

British (1801-present, Kingdom)

Herbert Cooper joined the Royal Air Force in 1936 and received hs wings in 1937 and was assigned to RAF Station Waddington in Lincolnshire in October of that year.
At the beginning of the war he was a flight instructor and got just involved in combat missions in January 1940. In February he volunteered to help bring twelve Bristol Blenheim Mk 1’s to Finland to unofficially help in the war against the Russians. This entailed clandestine flights to Norway and landing on a frozen lake near Helsinki, to a rapturous welcome from the Finnish forces. After being feted for two days Cooper and his aircrews were brought to Sweden and eventually brought from there back to Scotland.
In May Douglas was part of a bombing expedition to Maastricht to halt the German advance there and they managed to inflict continued damage on German positions along the Dutch and Belgian coasts during the British army’s retreat to Dunkirk as well as moving inland to attack enemy positions in occupied northern France. By June he and his crew had completed 30 operations and were entitled to a well earned rest. Douglas then assigned as instructor in training new pilots in the Blenheims and he was to remain at this task until February 1941 when he was recalled to operational duty at Watton in Norfolk.
A period of bombing raids on northern Germany followed and by April 1941 they had begun attacking German shipping in the North Sea. Numerous close shaves occurred, with German fighter planes out to destroy these bombers and Cooper’s log entries for May 1941
On July 1st, whilst on a mission to bomb and sink shipping in the Kiel Canal his Blenheim was badly hit by Flak Two of his crew were killed on the descent while Cooper landed on the bank of the canal where the Germans were awaiting his arrival. He remained a POW until his liberation in May 1945. After the war had ended he chose a civilian life as manager of his father’s thriving cinema business.
He remained active as air man in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in the Training Branch.

Promotions:
March 8th, 1937: Acting Pilot Officer (probation)
December 21st, 1937: Pilot Officer
September 3th, 1940: Flight Lieutenant
July 21st, 1939: Flying Officer

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Acting Flight Lieutenant

Awarded on:

May 28th, 1940

Citation:
"In May, 1940, this officer led a formation of aircraft ordered to undertake bombing operations against Maastricht. In spite of heavy gun-fire in the neighbourhood, the attack was pressed home successfully, the road and railway bridges being heavily bombed. Valuable photographs were also obtained which indicated the location of pontoon bridges and the movement of enemy columns."

• - The London Gazette Issue 34383 published on the 26 March 1937
  - The London Gazette Issue 34467 published on the 28 December 1937
  - The London Gazette Issue 34654 published on the 15 August 1939
  - The London Gazette Issue 34859 published on the 28 May 1940
  - The London Gazette Issue 34996 published on the 19 November 1940
  - Third Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 39466 published on the 8 February 1952
  - BBC - People's War - article contributed by Gray's Museum