Cherry, John Conrad Hazlehurst, son of Edward Hazlehurst Cherry and Macie Gwladys, d. of Samuel Smiley of Nazeing, Essex; b. 7 Sept. 1914; adm. Sept. 1927 (H); left July 1933; BNC Oxf., matric. 1933, BA 1938; rowed against Cambridge 1936-8, pres. OUBC 1937-8; Leander crew in the Berlin Olympic Games 1936; RNVR 1939-43 (Lieut.), despatches (posth.) June 1943; m. 22 Nov. 1940 Glory, d. of George Rowe; lost in HM Minelayer Welshman (Med.) 1 Feb. 1943.

John Conrad Hazlehurst “Con” Cherry was born at Paddington, London on the 7th of September 1914 the son of Edward Hazlehurst Cherry MBE , Deputy Manager of the Navy, Army and Air Forces Institutes, and Macie Gwladys (nee Smiley) Cherry of 261, Lauderdale Mansions, Maida Vale, later of “Harbourside”, Bruenell Road, Parkstone in Dorset. He was christened at St Stephen’s Church, Rochester Row on the 3rd of January 1915.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Homeboarders from September 1927 to July 1933. He was appointed as a member of the Monitorial Council in September 1931 and was appointed as a School Monitor and as Head of Homeboarders in September 1932. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Lance Sergeant in September 1931. He was a member of the 3rd Rowing VIII in 1929, where he rowed at No. 3 and of the 1st Rowing VIII from 1930 to 1933 where he rowed at No. 7 and later at No. 5.
The Elizabethan wrote the following of his 1930 season: - “A good seven, who is steadily improving as he puts on weight. With a fine natural length, he works smoothly and he can row hard. Apart from some unnecessary movement in his shoulders and head coming forward, he form and effectiveness is excellent. Like all oarsmen, he must go on working for more ease and quickness at the beginning.” They wrote of his 1931 season: - “He was hindered at first by an appearance of a new fault at the beginning of the season, of a hunching and poking action, with the inside arm bent. But towards the end of the season he opened out well, and developed much better length. At 7 he is an excellent timekeeper, but he needs to develop a longer and more powerful leg drive.”
He was appointed as Head of the Water in 1932. The Elizabethan wrote of his 1932 season: - “One of the “grand old men” of the crew, whose rowing is almost without blemish. For this reason he will have to work hard next year to maintain his present very high standard.” At the end of the 1933 season they wrote: - “A tower of strength to the boat; he kept the swing of the crew going, and his puddles showed how he was helping the boat along. Improvement for him lies, first in avoiding bent arms; this will give him the full advantage of his reach; secondly, in coupling up the whole body with his drive straight through from the stretcher to the finish. If he gets this, he will be a great oarsman. He has been an exceptionally able Head of the Water. He has done work and left a standard which will live after him.”
He matriculated for Brasenose College, Oxford in 1933 which he entered on the Heath Harrison Minor Exhibition. He was the President of the Brasenose Junior Common Rom and was a member of the Phoenix Common Room. He rowed for the College VIII from 1934 to 1938 and for the Oxford University VIII from 1936 to 1938. He was President of the Oxford University Boat Club in 1937 and 1938. He rowed for the Great Britain Rowing VIII in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in which they finished in fourth place. He served as the Captain of the Leander Club from 1938 to 1943 and was a member of Vincent’s Club.
He was a member of the Entertainments Committee of the Elizabethan Club in 1937.
On the outbreak of war he was an administrative trainee with an aircraft manufacturer. He was married on the 22nd of September 1940 to Iris Glory (nee Rowe) of Deancroft House, Cookham Dean, Berkshire; they had a daughter, Susan, born in 1942.
He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on the 10th of November 1940 and served as Torpedo Officer at the Royal Naval shore establishment HMS Spartiate from the 3rd of January to the 31st of March 1941. He served on board the minelayer HMS Manxman (M70) from the 1st of March 1941 to the 29th of December 1942.
He joined the crew of the cruiser- minelayer HMS Welshman (M84) on the 30th of December 1942, which had served in the Mediterranean from May 1942 where she took part in Operation Harpoon, Operation Pedestal and Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942.
At 5.45pm on the 1st of February 1943, HMS Welshman, under the command of Captain William Howard Dennis Friedberger DSO RN, was transporting stores and personnel from Malta to Tobruk when she was struck by two torpedoes from of a spread of four which had been fired by the U Boat U-617, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Albrecht Brandt. The main deck area flooded and she capsized and sank two hours later with the loss of 152 of her crew and 13 passengers. Several of the casualties were cause by exploding depth charges as she sank. 118 survivors were picked up after five hours in the water by the destroyers HMS Tetcott and HMS Belvoir and were taken to Alexandria. A further 6 survivors were rescued by small craft which had sailed out from Tobruk.
His wife received the following telegram: - “From Admiralty. Deeply regret to inform you that your husband Lieutenant J.C. Cherry RNVR has been killed on active service.”
He was Mentioned in Despatches “For courage and skill and enterprise”, which was announced by the Admiralty on the 1st of June 1943.
His obituary in the Times newspaper reads; - “..... Here was a No. 7 of unusual merit. The next year he at seven and Sturrock at six were the backbone of the first winning Oxford crew in 14 years, and in 1938, as President, he was the keystone of another winning crew. Cherry rowed at 14 stones. He was one of the best heavyweight oarsmen of all time, but he will be even better remembered for his absolutely faultless style, so rare in a big man. Rowing at No. 7 he could give a crew the quality that usually needs a stylish No. 7 and a thrusting No. 5, and those who saw him row realise what the orthodox style could be at its best. His easy style of rowing, so deceptive of its power, was seen to even greater advantage in a four than an eight, and in 1937 he rowed No. 3 in the fine Leander four that won the Steward’s Cup at Henley.”
The Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, Dr. W. T. S. Stallybrass, wrote: - “There have been, I believe, more O.WW. at Brasenose than at any other Oxford College (Christ Church always excepted), but none of them can have stood out amongst his contemporaries more than Conrad Cherry. He was far more mature than the normal Freshman. Like so many O.WW. He was possessed of an easy self-confidence and plenty of savoir faire, and he was quite exceptionally business-like. His capacity for business was recognised when he was elected President of the J.C.R. But it is as an oarsman that Cherry's name will always be remembered. As a Freshman his style was so good that some thought that he did little work in the boat. But the same men in the end considered him the best Seven there has ever been. The revival of Oxford rowing was due more to Cherry than to any other one man, alike as oar and as President. His word went. If a knot of men were arguing and asked Con for his opinion, he would give them a decision, not an opinion, and that would settle the matter. When the war came, Con soon took a commission in the R.N.V.R., and there earned golden opinions not only as a man but also for his technical ability. His Commanding Officer wrote: "Con was easy to talk to and make friends with for he was so simple in all his faiths and had such a kindly philosophy. Before he'd been with us three months I would not willingly have exchanged him for any R.N. Officer."Cherry was always a devoted Westminster-we used often to talk of our old School together. Westminster laid the foundations well and truly, but I think he developed whilst he was at Oxford more than most. He became a personality, though he was somewhat aloof in manner and never acquired that hail-fellow-well-met bonhomie which wins an easy and wide popularity. Nor was he easy to know intimately. As was said of Isaac Walton, he "would be seen twice in no man's company he did not like, and liked none but such as he believed to be very honest men." Water was his element. At Westminster, at Oxford, yachting in the holidays and during the war he spent his life on the water, and it is as he would have wished that in the water he should find his last resting-place.
A memorial service was held in his memory on the 20th of December 1946.
He is commemorated on the Chatham naval Memorial 73,3.

CHURCHILL, ARTHUR LINDSAY MAURY; b. Ceylon 21 May 1865; adm. (J) 25 Sep 1879; left Aug 1881; Westminster Hospital; LSA 1895, LMSSA 1907; Assistant Medical Officer, Wonford Hospital, and County Asylum, Lancaster; general medical practitioner at Mevagissey, Cornwall; Lieut., RAMC, attached Hampshire RHA (TF), 17 Dec 1914; Capt., attached 18th (Co. of London) Batt., London Regt. (London Irish Rifles), 17 Jun 1915; d. on active service 24 Jun 1917.

Clark, Adrian John, son of Matthew Clark, of South Kensington, by Blanche, daughter of Charles Stuart Leslie; b. April 9, 1889; adm. Sept. 24, 1903 (A); K.S. (non-resident) Jan. 1905; left July 1906; LL. B. (London Univ.) 1910; called to the bar at the Inner Temple June 8, 1910; S. E. Circuit and Central Crirp. Court; Major 23rd Batt. London Regt. March 21, 1918; served in France with his regiment and as D. A. A. G., 3rd Army; mentioned in despatches L. G. Jan. 4, 1917; O. B. E. June 3, 1919; Stipendiary Magistrate, Trinidad, 1924-7; Judge of the High Court, Jamaica, 1927-34; Deputy Public Prosecutor, Singapore, 1934-6: puisne judge, Straits Settlements, 1936-7; legal adviser Federated Malay States 1937; m. June 12, 1929, Marguerite Muriel, daughter of John Charles Brooks, of Virginia Water; d. of dysentery in the Secret Police Prison, Singapore, whilst interned by the Japanese, March 11, 1944.

Adrian John Clark was born in London on the 9th of April 1889 the son of Mateo Clark, a railway contractor, and Blanche (nee Leslie) Clark of 128, Coleherne Court, Old Brompton Road, South Kensington. He was educated at Westminster School where he was a King’s Scholar and was up Ashburnham from the 24th of September 1903 to July 1906. He and was non resident from January 1905 and was a member of the Westminster School Cadet Corps until 1906. He was a member of the Fencing team in 1906 and competed in the Public Schools Events on the 6th of April that year. He won the School Sabre Competition in the same year. He went on to London University where he read Law and graduated LLb in 1910. He was called to the Bar in the Inner Temple on the 8th of June 1910 and worked in the South East Circuit and Central Criminal Court from chambers at 3, Temple Gardens, Temple.
He applied for a commission in the 23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment on the 9th of January 1909. At a medical examination it was recorded that he was six feet and one half inches tall. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Battalion on the 20th of January 1909 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 4th of March 1910. He was promoted to Captain on the 20th of March 1911.
He was mobilised on the outbreak of war and went with the Battalion to St Albans where he volunteered for overseas service on the 26th of August 1914. He embarked for service in France with the 1/23rd Battalion of his Regiment at Southampton on board the SS Copenhagen at 7pm on the 14th of March 1915 and landed at Le Havre at 8am the following morning.
On the 2nd of May 1915 the Battalion was in billets at Le Touret when Adrian Clark was admitted to hospital with septicaemia. He was embarked on board a hospital ship at Boulogne on the 8th of May and landed at Dover later on the same day. He returned to the Battalion and went on leave on the 19th of December 1915, boarding the SS Archangel at Le Havre the next day and landed at Southampton on the 21st of December. He returned from leave on the 27th of December 1915. On the 4th of November 1916, the 1/23rd Battalion entered support trenches at Belgian Chateau in the Hill 60 Sector in the Ypres salient. During this time Adrian Clark suffered a blow to the left eye and he returned to England on the 7th of November where he was admitted to Queen Alexandra’s Hospital, Millbank on the 13th of November. He attended a Medical Board, which was held at the War Office on the 30th of January 1917, where he was declared as being fit for general service.
He was Mentioned in Despatches, which was announced in the London Gazette of the 4th of January 1917.
He was appointed as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for the 3rd Army on the 6th of February 1917 and was promoted to Major on the 21st of March 1918. He later served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Air Force. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours List of the 3rd of June 1919. He was demobilised on the 2nd of May 1919 and resigned his commission on the 30th of September 1921.
On leaving the army he served as a Stipendiary Magistrate in Trinidad from 1924 to 1927 and as a Judge in the High Court of Jamaica from 1927 to 1934. He was married on the 12th of June 1929 to Marguerite Murial (nee Brooks), later of Burleigh House, Brimscombe in Gloucestershire. He served as Deputy Public Prosecutor at Singapore from the 11th of September 1934 to 1936 and for the Straits Settlements from 1936 to 1937. In 1937 he was appointed as Legal Adviser to the Federated Malay States and worked from the Legal Advisers Chambers at Kuala Lumpur. He also served as a Major in the Selangor Local Defence Corps.
He was captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore on the 15th of February 1942 and was interned at Changi Barracks. Just after dawn on the 10th of October 1943, all of the internees at Changi were paraded for a roll call. A short time later Japanese Military Police, the Kempei tai, arrived and called out the names of fifty seven internees who were labelled and segregated. Three of these were women. A search of the of the barracks was carried out with the belongings of all internees being searched for radio telephony equipment which the Japanese believed was being used to contact people in Singapore to incite sabotage and anti Japanese activities outside the camp. Throughout the search the internees were made to stand in the sun without food or water until it was concluded at 6pm when they were allowed to return to the prison. The fifty seven men who had been separated were then taken to the Kempei tai Centre in Singapore for interrogation. They were detained in small cells or cages where they were given no bedding and with bright overhead lights burning throughout the night. From 8am to 10pm they were forced to sit up straight on the floor and were not allowed to move other than to use the toilets. The prisoners were beaten and tortured throughout their internment and on some occasions were told that they were to be executed. Adrian Clark died from dysentery at the Kempei tai Prison, Singapore. He was one of fifteen internees who died during the Double Tenth Incident.
Those who died were: -
Dr Cuthbert Arthur Stanley (Malayan Medical Service) Died 1st December 1943
S. Cornelius
A. Buchanan
William Lyle Stevenson Died 26th January 1944
Dermot Victor Prittie Perry (Medical Auxiliary Unit) Died 21st September 1944
Hilary Cameron Russell Rendle (Malayan Civil Service) Died 26th October 1944
Major Adrian John Clark, (Legal Adviser to the Federated Malay States) Died 21st March 1944
Norman Coulson Died 17th July 1944 (King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct)
S.A. Hagger
Henry Eardley Wilmot Bryning Died 1st February 1944
Stanley Musgrave Middebrook (Malayan Civil Service) Died 19th October 1944
John Herbert Bowyer (Chief Medical Officer, General Hospital, Singapore) Died 1st November 1944
Hugh Fraser (Malayan Civil Service) Died 25th July 1944
Wolfram Hermann Albert Penseler Died 2nd November 1944
Alan Wemyss Wellwood Ker (Director of Air Raid Precautions, Singapore) Died 25th September 1944
A trial of the Japanese participants in the Double Tenth Incident began on the 18th of March 1946 and was concluded on the 15th of April, with the death sentence being passed on eight members of the Kempei tai with life sentences passed on three more. Three more received sentences of between 8 and 15 years and six others were acquitted. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Haruzo Sumida, was hanged.
Clark is buried at Kranji War Cemetery Plot 35, Row G, Grave 13.

Clark, Charles Peter, son of Charles Harold Clark of Clairac, Lot-et-Garonne, France, and Gladys Mary, d. of Rev. James Morell Blackie of Cheltenham; b. 5 June 1909; adm. Sept. 1922 (G); left Dec. 1926; man. Charles and William Clark & Co, Clairac; RAFVR 1941 -5 (acting Flt Lieut.), despatches (posth.) June 1945; m. 27 June 1936 Cynthia Loveday, d. of Arnold Leslie Thackhall Browelt, solicitor, of Coventry; killed in action 29 Sept. 1944.

Charles Peter Clark was born on the 5th of June 1909 the son of Charles Harold Clark, a director of a catering company and a prune manufacturer, and Gladys Mary (nee Blackie) Clark of Clairac, Lot-et-Garonne in France and of “Eastwood”, 77, Red Road, Barnet in Hertfordshire. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from September 1922 to December 1926. He later became the manager of the family firm of Charles and William Clark & Co of Clairac in France. He was married at Leamington, Warwickshire on the 4th of July 1936 to Cynthia Loveday (nee Browett) of Beauchamp Avenue, Leamington Spa. They had a daughter, Caroline, born on the 15th of June 1939.
Following the outbreak of war he returned to England from France where he enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and rose to the rank of Sergeant before being commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 1st of September 1941, with seniority from the 28th of July 1941. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 1st of September 1942, with seniority from the 28th of July 1942 and was later promoted to Acting Flight Lieutenant.
He was posted to the Air Ministry in 1943 and joined the headquarters of the Special Operations Executive at Baker Street where he worked in supporting resistance operations in occupied Europe. He was later attached to 161 (Special Duties) Squadron.
Charles Clark took off from Le Bourget, Paris at 1.15pm on the 29th of September 1944 as a passenger in Lysander Mk IIIA V9749 MA-M for a flight to his home base of RAF Tempsford. The aircraft failed to arrive and is thought to have come down into the sea killing all on board.
The passengers and crew were: -
Flight Lieutenant James Alan Lamberton (161 Squadron) (Pilot)
Squadron Leader Anthony Wilfred Alwyne Compton (161 Squadron)
Major John Walter Saunders MBE (Royal Corps of Signals)
Flight Lieutenant Charles Peter Clark (161 Squadron)
He was Mentioned in Despatches, which was announced by the Air Ministry on the 14th of June 1945.
He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial Panel 201.

Clarke, Edwin Charles Kay, only son of Charles Sidney Clarke, of Laughton, Essex, stock­broker, and Elizabeth Clarke; b. Oct. 29, 1890; adm. Sept. 26, 1901 (R); left July 1910; joined the Inns of Court O. T. C. in 1911; 2nd Lieut. Oct. 18, 1914; Lieut. June 8, 1915; Officer Cadet Batt. March 20, 1916; Capt. March 23, 1916, attached to 8th Batt. London Regt. May 1918, and went out to the western front; M.C. Oct. 15, 1918; killed in action while leading an attack on Massiere's Wood Aug. 31, 1918.

Clark-Kennedy, Alexander Kenelm, brother of William Hew Clark-Kennedy (q.v.); b. Dec. 18, 1883; adm. Sept. 22, 1898 (A); left July 1902; Trin. Coll. Camb., matric. Michaelmas 1902; B.A. 1905; one of H. M. Inspectors of Factories July 31, 1906; acted as secretary to the Employ ment of Children Act 1909; 1st division clerk in the Home Office. Jan. 15, 1912, but was reappointed an Inspector of Factories Aug. 13, 1912; hon. sec. of the Elizabethan Club 1912-3; 2nd Lieut. the Galloway Rifles (afterwards known as the 5th Batt. of the King's Own Scottish Borderers) Oct. 19, 1906; Lieut. Aug. 20, 1907; Capt. July 12, 1915; went out to Gallipoli in May 1915; invalided home in Oct. 1915; joined his batt. in Egypt April 1916; killed in action near Gaza, Palestine, April 19, 1917; unm.

Clark-Kennedy, Archibald Douglas Hewitt, brother of William Hew Clark-Kennedy (q.v.); b. July 30, 1888; adm. Sept. 25, 1902 (A); left Dec. 1903; a clerk in the Standard Life Assurance Company's office in Edinburgh and afterwards at Bombay; returned from India in 1914 and entered the Law Union and Rock Assurance Company's Office in London; 2nd Lieut. 5th Batt. Royal Scots Fusiliers; Lieut. July 12, 1915; temp. Capt. Sept. 18, 1915, Capt. Jan. 18, 1916; joined the Gallipoli expedition May 1915, and was invalided to Cyprus; returned to Gallipoli and afterwards served with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine, where he commanded an armoured train in 1917; was transferred with his regt. to the western front in April 1918; mentioned in despatches; killed in action in France Sept. 18, 1918; unm.

Clout, Norman Charles Herbert, brother of Colin Herbert Clout (qv); b. 23 Nov. 1922; adm. Sept. 1935 (A); left July 1940; RAFVR 23 Nov. 1940, Hullavington fighter training sch. May 1941; d. of injuries in a flying accident 22 Aug. 1941.

Norman Charles Herbert Clout was born at Bromley, Kent on the 23rd of November 1922 the third and youngest son of Major Charles William Clout, London Regiment and General Staff, and Mary Ellen (nee Weekes) Clout of Camden Ridge, Chislehurst in Kent, later of 44, Montrose Avenue, Sidcup in Kent. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from September 1935 to July 1940.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 23rd of November 1940 and was posted to No. 9 Flying Training School based at RAF Hullavington for pilot training in May 1941.
Norman Clout took off from in Hurricane Mk I N2402 on the 21st of August 1941 for a solo training flight. At the time he had accumulated a total of 65.55 hours of solo flying time, of which 8.25 hours were on Hurricanes.
Having completed the exercise he was diverted to RAF Shawbury, possibly due to poor weather. When he arrived over the airfield at 5.30pm he made a circuit before approaching the runway to land. On landing he overshot the landing point and touched down three quarters of the way down the runway where the aircraft bounced into the air, most probably because he had applied the brakes. The aircraft skidded along the ground and turned over onto its back causing extensive damage to the fuselage, fins and rudder.
He was taken to the Royal Salop Hospital at Shrewsbury suffering from concussion and fractures to the third and fourth cervical bones in his neck. He had paraplegia in both of his arms and legs. He was transferred to the Royal Air Force Hospital, Cosford where he died from his injuries the following day.
His mother received the following telegram dated the 22nd of August 1941: - “Regret to inform you that your son 1330092 LAC Norman Charles Clout died in RAF Hospital Cosford near Wolverhampton on 22/8/41 as result of a flying accident on evening of 21/8/41 and tender deepest sympathy. Should you desire a private funeral coffin will be sent to railway station nearest your home, date and time of arrival being notified to you by telegram later, otherwise service funeral will be held at Cosford. If you desire to attend and cannot afford expenses one railway warrant will be issued on presentation of this telegram at the nearest police station. Please telegraph your decision as soon as possible. Your son Lieutenant C.H. Clout at Park Hall Camp, Oswestry, is being informed by me. Flying Officer L. H. Spencer”
His funeral took place on the 27th of August 1941.
He is buried at Chislehurst Cemetery Section A, Grave 2190.

Cockin, Maurice Herbert Battle, son of Maurice Stanley Cockin, journalist, of Mortlake, Surrey, and Alys Grace. d. of Philip Gear of Bristol; b. 17 Nov. 1915; adm. Sept. 1929 (B), (A) Sept. 1930; left July 1933; Queens' Coll. Camb., matric. 1934, BA 1937, MA 1941; N. Borneo Admin. Serv­ice; bar student (Middle Temple) 1941; HQ. Intelligence Section 1st Canadian Divn (Capt.); despatches (posth.) Sicily May 1944; killed in action 1944.

Maurice Herbert Battle “Bat” Cockin was born at Mortlake, Surrey on the 17th of November 1915 the only son of Captain Maurice Stanley Cockin, a journalist, and Alice Grace (nee Gear) Cockin of Leyden House, Mortlake. He was christened at St Mary’s Church, Mortlake on the 16th of March 1916. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from September 1929 and up Ashburnham from September 1930 to July 1933. He was a member of the Officers Training Corps where he achieved Certificate A. He went on to the University of Paris to study Arts from 1933 to 1934 and matriculated for Queens’ College, Cambridge in 1934 where he achieved a BA in 1937 and a MA in 1941. On leaving university he accepted a post with the North Borneo Administration Service where he was Private Secretary and Aide de Camp to the Governor of British North Borneo for nine months and was also appointed as a Magistrate. He returned to England where he studied law at the Middle Temple for two years but he enlisted in the army before he complete the course. He was fluent in German, French and Malay. He later moved to Ottawa, Canada where he worked as a civil servant for the British Government for the British Supply Board. He lived at Chateau Laurier, Ottawa.
He attended a medical examination on the 25th of May 1940 where it was recorded that he was six feet tall and that he weighed 158lbs. It was also noted that he had a dark complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. He attested for military service on the 27th of May 1940 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards on the 16th of April 1940. He was attached to the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, was promoted to Lieutenant on the 3rd of June 1940 and joined their Depot at Picton on the same day. He left the Depot on the 3rd of February 1941 for overseas service and embarked at Halifax the following day. He disembarked at Gourock, Scotland on the 1st of March 1941. He was promoted to Captain on the 14th of November 1942 and was appointed as an Intelligence Officer 2nd Class on the 5th of February 1943. He was attached to the Intelligence Section of the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters in Italy.
On the morning of the 20th of July 1943, Maurice Cockin and Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Albert Sutcliffe went out together for a reconnaissance of the enemy front lines near Monte Assoro. As the two men crouched in the open they were spotted by the crew of a German 88mm gun which was positioned on the high ground to their front. It fired at them over open sights, killing Bruce Sutcliffe instantly and seriously wounding Maurice Cocklin.
A fellow officer saw him when he was brought back to the Canadian lines and recalled: - “Bat Cockin was still alive when they brought him back. He was in great agony, and he had apparently been asking to see me, as he had something to tell me. He and Bruce Sutcliffe had been staring up at the great peak of Assoro, and the zig-zag road that ran up to the village of that name. Although he was pretty far gone, his speech suddenly came back to him with most remarkable clarity, and he grabbed my wrist and said, "John, for God's sake don't go up that road." I don't think he spoke again.”
He was collected by the 4th Canadian Divisional Field Ambulance which took him to No. 1 Field Dressing Station where he was treated for wounds to the lumbar region of his back and to his left arm. He was also suffering from shock. He died from his wounds at 11.15am the following day.
He was Mentioned in Despatches for “Distinguished and gallant services”, which was announced in the London Gazette of the 25th of March 1944.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Queens’ College, Cambridge and on the memorial at the Middle Temple
He is buried at Agira Canadian War Cemetery Plot C, Row G Grave 348.