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Rolla Maxwell Cooke joined 145 Squadron RAF on 23rd September 1941
4 Nov 1941
COOKE, ROLLA MAXWELL RAAF
Fg Off
He was killed whilst flying in Spitfire IIA, P7624 of No 145 Sqn, which flew into the ground near Catterick. He is buried in Catterick Cemetery.
At 1530 hours on 4 November 1941 Spitfire P7624 flown by Flying Officer Cooke crashed at Catterick Aerodrome and he was killed.
A report on the Flying Accident stated:
The starboard undercarriage was not fully retracted at the time of the accident. It was found broken away from the mainplane after the crash. The port undercarriage leg had fully retracted and locked. This shows the ‘selector’ lever must have been in the ‘up’ position. The hydraulic pump was removed from the engine. Extensive wear on the drive shaft splines.
Pump run on undercarriage at reg. And found satisfactory. Driving sleeve fractured but still capable of of transmitting drive.
Remarks by the Unit Commander:
Lack of flying discipline. The pilot attempted to carry out aerobatics in the aerodrome circuit at 400 feet at too low a speed. Cause of Accident was found to be the starboard leg of this aircraft’s undercarriage was only partly retracted and this, added to the low speed at which the aerobatics were started caused the pilot to lose control.
General remarks:
A good pilot who was inclined at time to carry out some reckless flying. All pilots had been warned against this type of flying and by both Flying Commanders two days before this accident.
