COOK, Albert Victor Willis
| Service Number: | 8801 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 October 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 15th Field Company Engineers |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1892 |
| Home Town: | Toodyay, Toodyay, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Murchison, Western Australia, 1946, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 8801, 4th Field Company Engineers | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 May 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 8801, 4th Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 2 May 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 8801, 4th Field Company Engineers, HMAT Hororata, Sydney | |
| 12 Feb 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 15th Field Company Engineers, France |
Vietnam War Service
| 21 Jun 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 15th Field Company Engineers |
|---|
World War 1 Service
| 22 Jun 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 8801, 15th Field Company Engineers, per Devanha | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Aug 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 8801, 15th Field Company Engineers |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Bert was the eighth of ten children of Charles James Cook (b1857 in Somerset, England) and Rosina Marianne Willis (b 1856 in Somerset, England). Albert (a Labourer) and Rosina married in 1878 in Bridgewater, Somerset where Albert worked as a Bricklayer until the couple emigrated with their first child in January 1881. They arrived in Sydney NSW in April 1881 on board the Blairgowie and Charles worked as a Builder before moving to Melbourne, Victoria 1887. In 1904 Charles and Rosina moved their family to Western Australia where Charles worked as a Builder in Perth before settling at Coondle near Toodyay and working as a Contractor before establishing Normanhurst Farm. Charles was a Farmer, first Chairman of the Roads Board and a Justice of the Peace.
Bert was living on the family farm at Coondle near Toodyay and working as a Miner when he enlisted in the AIF in October 1915. He was a Private/Sapper (Service No:8801) with 4th Field Engineers, and in France was transferred to 15 Field Coy Engineers in February 1917. He was promoted to Lance Corporal in June 1918 and was Discharged in August 1919. Brother Maurice also served in WWI.
Returning to WA, Bert took up a Soldier's Setttlement Scheme farm, but was unable to undertake the required improvements when four different types of poison plants were discovered in 1923. Bert worked as a Contractor in Carnamah, WA until 1930 - giving evidence in Moora to the Royal Commission into the Soldier's Settlement Scheme in May 1923.
Bert took up Prospecting again, and lived and worked in Mount Magnet and Cue. Bert died in 1946.
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