DO YOU RECOGNISE ANYONE IN THE WEDDING PHOTO?
The Cook family came from Coate, near Devizes, Wiltshire and later moved to Stert.
My great grandfather was Thomas Richard Cook (1875-1948) and he married Mary Jane Strong (1873-1931).
The two graves can be found in the Stert churchyard. Huntley is another branch of the Cook family.
Able Seaman Norman Huntley was killed in action during the second war on 21st August 1944 serving on HMS Kite:
Name: Huntley, Norman Henry
Rank: Able Seaman
Service Number: D/JX 369331
Date of death: 21/08/1944
Age 20 years
Service: Royal Navy
Nationality: United Kingdom
Grave/Memorial Ref: Panel 86, Column 3
Memorial Name: Plymouth Naval Memorial, Plymouth Hoe, Devon, England.
At 06:30 on 21 August, HMS Kite slowed to 6 knots (10 km/h) to untangle her "foxers" (anti acoustic torpedo noise makers, towed astern). The decision to do so, rather than severing the foxers cables and abandoning them, was made by her temporary commander, Lt Comdr Campbell, a submariner. At that speed Kite was a sitting duck, and she was hit by two torpedoes from U-344 (commanded by Oberleutnant Ulrich Pietsch) and sank.
Of Kite's crew of 10 officers and 207 ratings, 60 survived the attack, but from the freezing Arctic water only 14 sailors were picked up alive by HMS Keppel. Five of the rescued died on board HMS Keppel leaving only nine to make it to shore. As of 2004, there were two living survivors.
Back to top