Mother of pearl cross : Leading Aircraftman R Rooke, 7 Squadron RAAF

Mother of pearl Christian cross. The edges of the arms are slightly rounded.

Cross made by 71331 Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Raymond Rooke for his sister Maria. Rooke was born at Ashfield, New South Wales on 18 February 1914, the son of James Edward Rooke and Edith May Philpott. Rooke worked for two years as a munitions worker, manufacturing shell fuzes at Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia), before he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 14 October 1942. He had married Essie Mercer Simmons on 29 June 1940 and they had a daughter, Mary Ann. He was an Aircraftman 1 upon enlistment and was later promoted to LAC on 13 April 1943. LAC Rooke served with 7 Squadron RAAF from March 1943 to January 1945. Equipped with Beaufort aircraft the squadron operated out of Ross River, near Townsville, in 1943, undertaking escort patrols over northern Australian waters. In April 1944 the squadron moved to Horn Island, and then in November 1944 to Tadji, in New Guinea, where it remained until the end of the war. Rooke was discharged from 8 Operational Training Unit on 18 December 1945.