COOPER, Clare Gordon
| Service Number: | 430440 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 January 1943, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | No. 460 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Ararat, Victoria, Australia, 16 October 1924 |
| Home Town: | Langi Logan, Ararat, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Ararat High School |
| Occupation: | Farm Labourer |
| Died: | 25 January 1991, aged 66 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia Derrick Gardens, Path 44, Grave 927B |
| Memorials: | Ararat Langi-Logan District Honor Roll, South Australian Garden of Remembrance |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Jan 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 430440, No. 460 Squadron (RAAF), Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Dec 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 430440 |
Help us honour Clare Gordon Cooper's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Charles Alan COOPER, Langi Logan, via Ararat, Victoria.
Enjoyed the sports of Cricket, Football, Tennis, Swimming and Shooting.
Clare was reported missing whilst engaged on an operational flight. On the night of the 21st February 1945, Flight Sergeant Cooper, as Wireless Operator, with this crew took off to carry out a bombing attack on DUISBERG. Unfortunately no further news was received concerning the fate of the aircraft or any member of the crew. "Your son carried out his duties in a most conscientious and capable manner. By his courage and devotion to duty in the face of danger, he inspired us, and his personality will be missed by all. On behalf of the entire Squadron I should like to convey to you our sincere sympathy." His personal effects were carefully collected and placed in safe keepin with the R.A.F. Central Depository, Colnbrook, Slough, Bucks.
He was later listed as missing - now save in UK - liberated by the Allied Armies 15 May 1945.
Flight-Sgt Clare Gordon Cooper, 20, one of the first members of the Ararat Air Training Corps to go oversea, is reported missing in air operations in the European area on February 21, 1945. He is the second son of Mr and Mrs C. A. Cooper, of Langi Logan, near Ararat, and he was a member of a Lancaster bomber crew which was detailed to attack enemy targets over Germany and which failed to return. He was educated at Ararat High School, and enlisted in the RAAF a year after leaving school. His elder brother is serving with the AIF in South-West Pacific.
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