COOK, Ralph Cranbrook
| Service Number: | 586 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 February 1915, Melbourne |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Williamstown, Victoria, April 1892 |
| Home Town: | Queenscliff, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Seaman/Fisherman |
| Died: | Natural causes, Melbourne, Victoria, 25 June 1982 |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Melbourne | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Corporal, 586, 21st Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' |
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| 10 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, 586, 21st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 12 Sep 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 586, 21st Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Sep 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1 |
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When Ralph (who was born in Williamstown in 1892; father Archibald Henry Marquis Cook, mother Mary Ann Brensley) enlisted in the First AIF on the 1st of February 1915 his address (and where his mother lived) was Bridge Street, Queenscliff. For 10 months prior to enlistment he had been employed on the government survey vessel Albert in Port Phillip, and prior to that he was a fisherman.
Ralph served in the 21st (Infantry) Battalion, and received a bayonet wound to the hand while in Egypt in June 1916. His condition deteriorated due to infection and he was returned to Australia and discharged from the army in September 1916, resuming life at Queenscliff. It seems likely he met his future wife Addie in Queenscliff after this (but he may have also known her brother younger Bill, who commenced his seaman career at Queenscliff in 1915), although they could have met beforehand through Adelaide’s aunty Jeannie (Murray) and her husband Albert Johnson (also a fisherman), who lived at Queenscliff.
Ralph married Adelaide Craig McNeil (daughter of John Duncan McNeil and Mary Murray) on 22 October 1919 at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Melbourne. They had three children: Patricia, Marjorie and Joan.