Tony Cooper
D-Day Spitfire pilot
BORN FEBRUARY 6, 1916 DIED JANUARY 26, 2017 AGED 100
HEROIC Spitfire pilot Tony Cooper put his life on the line time and again during the 160 operational sorties he completed in the Second World War.
In the course of clocking up 3,200 hours in the skies he survived five forced landings, two of them at night, two on fire and one as a result of being hit by enemy ground fire.
As flight commander of No. 64 Squadron he was involved in fighter and ground attacks during the build-up to D-Day and during the June 6, 1944 invasion itself when he provided fighter cover over Utah and Omaha beaches.
He continued to fly operationally for the next five months, including on missions in support of Operation Market Garden, the Arnhem Para-landings.
His bravery in the skies was all the more remarkable considering his applications to join the RAF were twice refused, because medicals showed he had a badly damaged ear drum.
Then in late 1937, aged 21, Cooper was accepted for pilot training with the RAF Volunteer Reserve at Luton which seemed less fussed given that, “There was a war coming”. After completing his training he became a flying instructor at No.7 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) in Peterborough before being posted to Ontario where he met and married a Canadian girl called Pearl.
He continually pestered his superiors to be allowed to return to the UK on “ops” and was granted his wish in July 1943 when he joined No 64 Squadron and flew Spitfires for the next 16 months.
After the war he returned to his home town of Lowestoft and became the fifth generation to work in the family wholesale business, WB Cooper. He remained active well into his 90s, swimming and going to the gym regularly.
In 2015 he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur medal from France for his services during the war.
He is survived by his partner of 20 years, Doris, and his two children, Alison and Peter, from his 56-year marriage to Pearl.