Cook, Leslie John (Corporal, b.1918 - d.1943)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX32179 Corporal Leslie John Cook, 2/33 Australian Infantry Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Australia, 1943-1947.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Consists of five letters relating to the death of Corporal Leslie John Cook. It contains:
1x Letter from Corporal Cook’s mother, Mrs Alice Louisa Cook (née Vidler), to his wife, Mrs Mona Kathleen Cook (née Thompson), c 1943.
1x Letter from the Australian Military Forces to Mrs Mona Cook, Sydney, New South Wales, 2 November 1943. This letter relates to the issue of two Certificates of Death.
1x Letter from Directorate of Graves Registration to Mrs Mona Cook, Melbourne, Victoria, 16 November 1943. This letter relates to the inscription on Corporal Cook’s headstone.
1x Letter from the Directorate of War Graves Services to Mrs Mona Inglis (earlier Cook), Melbourne, Victoria, 19 February 1946. This letter relates to the varification of information.
1x Letter from the Australian Military Forces to Mrs Mona Inglis, Sydney, New South Wales, 3 April 1947. This letter relates to an application for war gratuity.

Corporal Leslie John Cook enlisted to the Second Australian Imperial Force on 14 June 1940. After a period of training, he joined 2/33 Australian Infantry Battalion and served in the Middle East, Australia and New Guinea. On 7 September 1943, at Jackson’s Airfield, Port Moresby, a fully-loaded Liberator bomber crashed into trucks carrying members of 2/33 Australian Infantry Battalion, including Corporal Cook. He, among many others, died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. Corporal Cook is buried at Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea.