Voices of VE Day 75 - Ken Cooke

To mark the 75th Anniversary Commemorations of VE Day, we spoke with a few of the veterans we know about their experiences on 8th May 1945 and hear their advice for future generations.

Called-up in late 1943 aged 18 when he was working in York, Ken joined the Green Howards 7th Battalion.

On the morning of 6th June 1944, Ken landed in one of the initial waves on Gold Beach. When Ken waded ashore the greatest thought which preoccupied his mind was not the enemy fire going on all around him, but that of his socks being thoroughly soaked through. His unit quickly pushed in-land in the proceeding hours and were in fact told to hold in case they got cut-off from adjacent units who had met stubborn resistance. The reality of the situation quickly dawned on Ken when the next day when the names of a few of his mate were posted as wounded or killed in action.

Caught up in the proceeding grinding fight through Normandy, Ken was wounded by shrapnel from an air-burst on 4th July 1944 where he was evacuated back to Blighty. It took several months in hospital for Ken to recover from his wounds. ‘Fit’ once more, he was sent back to the North Western European Theatre as a replacement and posted to the Highland Light Infantry, battling through Germany and ending up at Bremen.

*Please note this episode may contain some explicit language / content, parental guidance advised.*