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John Reynolds Cock |
Name : John Reynolds Cock Born : 3rd March 1918 Died : 20th August 1988 Service Number : 40674 Air Victories : 11.00 |
P/O John R.Cock flew with No 87 Squadron and was the first Australian to shoot down an enemy aircraft in WWII. In early 1939 Cock was posted to 87 Squadron at Debden On 14th April 1940 Cock attacked a He111 off Le Touquet but it escaped. On 10th May he claimed a Ju88 destroyed and a Do17 and a Me110 damaged, on the 12th April a He111 destroyed, a Me109 on the 14th, possibly a Ju88 on the 16th April, a Ju87 destroyed and another damaged on the 18th and a Hs126 shared on the 19th. The squadron was withdrawn to Debden on the 22nd, moving to Church Fenton a few days later to refit. On 5th July 1940 87 Squadron moved to Exeter. Soon after midnight on the 26th Cock shot down a He111 which crashed at Smeathorpe, near Honiton. On 11th August Cock shot down a Ju88 and a Me109 and probably shot down a Me110 and another Ju88. In this combat Cock's Hurricane, V7233, was hit by a Me109 and he baled out off Portland Bill He swam ashore slightly injured.at Chesil Beach and was admitted to hospital. Cock re-joined 87squadron on 11th September 1940. On the 26th he claimed a Ju88 destroyed and a Me109 damaged, on the 30th a Ju88 destroyed and probably a Me109 and on 10th October he claimed another probable Me109. After his engine cut out on patrol on 24th October Cock was unable to avoid colliding with P/O DT Jay. Cock managed to make a forced-landing but Jay was killed while attempting to bale out. Awarded the DFC Cock went on a instructors course at the end of 1940. In September 1941 he was instructing at 9 FTS Hullavington. On 15th July 1942 Cock was posted to 453 Squadron, recently reformed at Drem, as a Flight Commander. Cock left the squadron on 30th August for a course as a pilot gunnery instructor. After a short attachment to 222 Squadron at Ayr in November he returned to Australia, attached to the Spitfire Wing at Darwin In April 1944 he returned to the UK and did a tour with 3 Squadron in France, flying Tempests, after which he went back to England. He was shot down in his Hurricane I (V7233) off Portland Bill and safely baled out on the 11th of August 1940. He swam ashore slightly injured. |
COMBAT REPORTS |
October 25th, 1940 DFC Citation: "This officer has destroyed seven enemy aircraft. In August, 1940, when in action against a large formation of enemy aircraft, he attacked and destroyed a Junkers 88. During this combat he was attacked from below and his aircraft caught fire. Though wounded, he escaped by parachute and fell into the sea, but saved himself by swimming ashore. Flying Officer Cock has shown magnificent courage and initiative against overwhelming odds." Details: The Investiture took place on 25 October 1940 at Buckingham Palace. |
Known Service Details : | |||||||
Squadron | Rank | Start of Service | End of Service | Known Dates | Aircraft | Airframes | Notes |
Flight Officer | unknown | unknown | 11th August 1940 | ||||
unknown | unknown |
Photos Submitted Through Our Directory |
Known Individual Aircraft : | ||||||||
Type | Serial | Codes | First Flew | Squadron History | Aircrew History | History Notes | Engine | Factory |
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Aircraft for : John Reynolds Cock | ||
A list of all aircraft associated with John Reynolds Cock. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | ||
Aircraft | Info | |
Hurricane
Manufacturer : Hawker Production Began : 1936 Number Built : 14533 | Hurricane Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built. |
Squadrons for : John Reynolds Cock | ||
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by John Reynolds Cock. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
Squadron | Info | |
No.453 Sqn RAAF Country : Australia Founded : 13th May 1941 Fate : Disbanded 21st January 1946 Ready to strike | No.453 Sqn RAAF Full profile not yet available. | |
No.87 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 1st September 1917 Fate : Disbanded 3rd January 1961 United Provinces Maximus me metuit - The most powerful fear me | No.87 Sqn RAF No. 87 Squadron was formed from a major part of D Squadron of the Central Flying School at Upavon on 1st September 1917. In April 1918, 87 Squadron was equipped with Dolphins when it was sent to France to fly in fighter and ground attack operations. This the squadron did to the end of the Great War, returning back to the UK in February 1919, and was disbanding on 24th June 1919. 87 Squadron was reformed on 15th March 1937 at Tangmere and was equipped with Hawker Furies until being re-equipped with the Gloster Gladiator in June when the squadron was based at Debden. In July 1938, 87 Squadron was again re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes and with the outbreak of World War Two the squadron was moved to France as part of the Air Force supporting the British Expeditionary Force. 87 Squadron supplied air support to the troops on the Northern Front until their airfields were overrun by the German forces. The squadron was then moved to Yorkshire, moving again to south-west England in July for defence roles both day and night. The squadron was mainly used in a night fighter role during the Battle of Britain and remained mainly in that role until the end of 1942, while also beginning intruder missions in March 1941. The squadron was then moved to Gibraltar In November 1942 as part of the build up for the invasion of North Africa, remaining there until September 1943 when the squadron again moved to Sicily. In January 1944, the squadrons main role was to patrol over the Balkans form their base in Italy. In August 1944, the squadron returned to night duties performing fighter-bomber missions and in this role 87 squadron remained until the end of the war. On 30th December 1946, the squadron was disbanded. No.87 reformed on 1st January 1952 at Wahn as a night-fighter squadron in Germany, initially operating the Meteor jet fighter but by the end of 1957 the Meteor was replaced with the Javelin until the squadron was finally disbanded in January 1961. Pilots of 87 Sqn c.1941. Second from the right is P/O G. L. Roscoe. Many thanks to Flight Lieutenant Alex Thom DFC who supplied this photo. |
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