The Royal NZ Air Force Air Force, Black Falcons team fly over opening ceremony of the new World War I Memorial at Marsden Valley Cemetery to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Jack Cock. Only one pilot returned to base on that fateful morning of Saturday April 14 1917 - but it wasn't "Jack" Cock. Five Nieuport 17 scout biplanes of 'A' Flight, No.60 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps took-off at 8.30am from their base at Filescamp Farm, 17 miles west of Arras on the Western Front, to fly an offensive patrol over the nearby Douai area in northern France. One of the only surviving images of Second Lieutenant Jack Cock, Nelson's only aviation casualty of World War I. The flight leader was an Australian, Captain Alan Binnie and the other four pilots were Lieutenants W.O. Russell and G.C. Young and 2nd Lieutenants L.C. Chapman and J.H. Jack Cock, from Nelson. John Herbert Cock, known as Jack, came from a well-known and respected Nelson family. Born at Nelson on 16 November 1893 he was the second of two sons to Joseph Henry Cock (always referred to as Henry) and his wife Elizabeth Mary (nee Symons). Henry Cock, who arrived in Nelson in 1880, became a prominent and successful businessman and founded the well-known Nelson-based company, J.H. Cock & Co. Ltd, with branches in Wanganui and New Plymouth. The distinctive Anchor Shipping & Foundry building on Wakefield Quay in Nelson, which was owned by Jack Cock's father, Joseph. He was one of the original owners of the Anchor Shipping & Foundry Co. Ltd and also a director of the local biscuit and confectionary manufactures, Griffin & Sons Ltd. The Nelson School of Music had its beginnings in a conversation between himself and Michael Balling, while they were snowbound in a hut on the Tasman Glacier. Later he purchased and gave the site for the new music school and was a member of the Board of Trustees. Henry Cock was also a generous supporter of the Nelson Harmonic Society, a trustee of the Suter Art Gallery, and sat on the Board of Governors of Nelson College. A Nieuport 17 aircraft, similar to the one piloted by Jack Cock. The idea of what developed into the Cawthron Institute was suggested by him in a conversation he had with Thomas Cawthron. It was also his generosity that enabled the Nelson Branch of the RSA to purchase its original club building in Rutherford St. Jack Cock attended school in Nelson and was a pupil at Nelson College from 1905 to 1910 after which he spent three years in Europe studying at Paris, Lausanne and Heidelberg. He was academically gifted but returned home to work in the Wanganui Branch of his father's business. He took a keen interest in Territorial Army work and held a commission in the Senior Cadets. After the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914, Jack enlisted as a private, rather than wait for a commission, and left with the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, attached to the Wellington Infantry. He took part in the landing at Gallipoli on April 25 1915 and a few days later, while sniping in an exposed position, was seriously wounded in the left shoulder and invalided back to Nelson, where he eventually made a good recovery. During his time back in Nelson he became engaged to Ella Frances Mary Harkness, whose brother Donald was a good friend of Jack's. Jack returned to service in October 1915 with a commission and joined the NZ Rifle Brigade, serving in Egypt before being posted to the Western Front in April 1916. On the last day of May he was again badly wounded, this time in the right forearm. Following a lengthy period of convalescence in England he was declared unfit for further active service and ordered to return to New Zealand for light duties. Although his courage had already been tested and proved beyond question he managed to arrange a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps in mid-September 1916 as a trainee pilot, gaining his Aviators Certificate in January 1917. Following the award of his RFC "wings" he was posted to No.60 Squadron but before leaving for active combat service, for the third time, he left a note for his parents with a few brave words of farewell and consolation to be read in case of his death. Leutenant Kurt Woolf, the German pilot who shot down Jack Cock's plane, stands by his Abatross DIII in spring 1917 April 1917 became known as 'Bloody April', the worst month of World War I for losses of men and aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Soon after joining his squadron came the fateful morning of April 14, 1917. Jack was flying a Nieuport 17, when he and three other pilots failed to return from a patrol over Douai. The flight engaged a pair of enemy two-seater reconnaissance aircraft, one of which was forced down, but soon after they were "bounced" by a number of Albatros DIII Scouts of the renowned Jasta 11 led by Lothar von Richthofen. As expected, Jack put up a determined fight but his lack of flying experience was against him and he was killed in the ensuing dogfight, becoming the 14th victim of Oberleutnant Kurt Wolff. His aircraft crashed to the west of Beaumont Railway Station, three miles northwest of Douai. Of the other pilots, Chapman was forced down, badly wounded, and died two days later as a prisoner. Russell had little choice but to force-land his disabled aircraft behind enemy lines and was also taken prisoner. The more experienced Binnie put up a good fight, driving down three German aircraft before he was also eventually forced down, badly wounded in the arm, (which required amputation), and taken prisoner. Young, whose aircraft had mechanical problems and a jammed gun, managed to return to base but soon after was back in the air , searching in vain for his flying mates. Much to the great distress of his family back in Nelson, Jack continued to be reported as "missing in action" for many months. There was no news from the enemy lines and British authorities regularly checked records in case he was a POW, but his name never appeared. Carrying no identification he was buried in the Beaumont Communal Cemetery as an unknown British airman. Sadly, it was not until February 1918 that the Red Cross confirmed that the British airman in Plot 39, Row 29, Beaumont Communal Cemetery - North End, Pas de Calais, France could be none other than 2nd Lieutenant John Herbert "Jack" Cock. With both sons, Jack and Henry Jnr (known as "Hal"), away at war, Henry Cock Snr shouldered the responsibility of his many business and philanthropic interests. In 1920, when donations were being sought to help fund the Nelson memorial to the fallen of World War I. Henry Cock made a substantial personal donation but ironically, and in an inexplicable twist of fate and officialdom, his son John Herbert Cock does not appear on the memorial now situated in Anzac Park, Nelson. The only place where Jack Cock was remembered is on the Nelson College Scriptorium World War I Roll of Honour. Only very recently has his name been officially acknowledged and recorded on a public war memorial in Nelson. On 15 April 2017, 100 years and one day after his death in action, Jack Cock was at last remembered, with a special plaque at the newly created 'Marsden Valley RSA Memorial' at Stoke. The Nelson College magazine, The Nelsonian, reported on Henry Cock's death, while visiting England in early September 1921, and commented, "When the news came of the loss at the Front of his second son, it was a shock from which he never fully recovered." On the centenary of his death we salute and still remember John Herbert Jack Cock, a brave young Nelsonian who served King and country with distinction in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and the British Royal Flying Corps. He gave his life at the age of 23, defending freedom, justice and honour - the only Nelson aviation fatality of World War I. Interestingly, Jacks' older brother 'Hal', who became a well-known Nelson businessman and managed the family business of J.H. Cock & Co. until his death in May 1956, also had aviation interests as a director of Nelson-based Cook Strait Airways Ltd and a founding member of the Nelson Aero Club. - The author, Graeme McConnell, acknowledges the considerable help of Errol Martyn, aviation historian of Christchurch, for the supply and use of some of the above information. The fatal final mission of Jack Cock - Nelson's only World War I aviation casualty
