Rhubarb 2020

ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

As a lieutenant in the sloop Alacrity from 1949 until 1952 Cooke saw the opening of the Korean War, before specialising as a navigator. For two testing years from 1953 he was navigator of the dispatch vessel Surprise of the British Mediterranean Fleet, when Admiral Lord Mountbatten was its commander-in-chief. On fleet exercises and visits to many Mediterranean ports Cooke learned the operational excellence and diplomatic ease which was expected of the Navy and all its officers. Cooke’s career took him worldwide; he served ashore in several training appointments and attended various colleges, but it was the sea which drew him, and he successfully commanded two frigates, Brighton (1964-66) and Galatea (1969-71), in the Far East and the Mediterranean. He was the last British officer to command the Sembawang naval base (1967- 69) before it was handed over to the Singapore government, but his favourite shore job was as Commodore of the Clyde submarine base between 1973 and 1975; he was warmly accepted despite not being a submariner, and he and his wife welcomed and entertained the Queen and Prince Philip. His last naval appointment was as Admiral President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and in 1980 he was made Companion of the Order of the Bath. After the Navy, in 1981 Cooke became private secretary to the Lord Mayor of London; his discretion, firmness of character and ability to get on with a wide range of people suited him perfectly for the role. His principal task was to run the Mansion House – with its residence, offices, art collection and flamboyant function rooms – which he did with the same eagle eye as a captain of one of HM Ships.

1979. Played hockey for Royal Navy 1948-1962, and for Scotland and Ireland 1949- 1951. Captain Hayling Island Golf Club 1989. Vice President Royal Navy Physical Training Branch Association.

together with his good friend Hugh Watts of Downside and Cambridge, another outstanding games player, and their wives, an attractive estate near Ludlow was acquired and they set up Moor Park a traditional, originally Catholic, prep school there. Between the four of them there was no one they didn’t know and very soon fun as well as success was being had by all, boys and staff alike. Scholarships were won to Eton, Winchester, Ampleforth and Downside; holidays were spent in Cornwall, often playing golf at St Enedoc and the presence of the Moor Park choir at Derek’s funeral provided a heartening reminder of “days in the distance enchanted.” The wake in the new Teddies pavilion, following Derek’s funeral at the Catholic church just up Woodstock Road from the school, was not only splendidly crowded but also a fitting tribute to a great character. MACDONALD, IAN (1926-2019) On 17th October 2019, Commander Ian MacDonald (F, 1940-44). First XI. Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 1944-1946. Royal Navy 1947. Royal Air Force Staff College 1965. Commanding Officer Royal Navy School of Physical Training 1972-1977. Awarded OBE 1977. Commander (Rtd)

O B I T U A R I E S

CLARIDGE, MARTIN (1927-2019) In 2019, Martin Claridge (G, 1940-1945).

Exhibitioner, Hockey (Capt). New College Oxford 1945- 48. Oxford University Hockey Club 1945 and 1948. MA. St Thomas’s Hospital 1948-50, BM (Bachelor of Medicine). Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 1950. Consultant Urologist, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons 1957 MCh (Master of Surgery) 1964. Kent & Canterbury Hospital 1964. Hunterian Professor 1965. Retired from NHS 1989. COOKE, TONY (1927-2019) On 1st December 2019, Admiral Anthony John (Tony) Cooke (A, 1941-1945). Rear Admiral Tony Cooke, who has died aged 92, was a navigator, and the second of three generations of Rear- Admirals Cooke, who were each awarded the CB, and who in total served the Royal Navy for 113 years. Anthony John Cooke was born on 21st September 1927 at Crouch End in north London, while his father, John Ernest Cooke, was engineer lieutenant in the battle cruiser Hood – “the Mighty Hood”. His education was peripatetic: Plymouth College and Edinburgh House preparatory schools, and St Edward’s, Oxford. He tried to follow in his father’s footsteps and applied to join the Navy as a seaman but became a special entry cadet, entering the Royal Naval College. By September

Derek Henderson 2017

Harlequins, the Martyrs, the Free Foresters, the Cryptics, the Frogs, the Arabs and many others. Between leaving school in 1944 and going up to Trinity in 1947 Derek was in America learning to become a wartime pilot, something he was spared from doing by VJ Day. He loved recalling the day when, as Head of Cowell’s and soon after the Dambuster raid, he saw Guy Gibson coming back to visit his old House and was able soon afterwards to welcome the great man from high table. Being especially fond of Derek, Warden Kendall had probably always hoped that he might come back to the School, as he duly did, teaching mostly History and Cricket for 11 years. With Warden Fisher implying that as a Catholic he was unlikely to get a House, he switched in 1961 to prep schools. From Teddies he went as assistant headmaster of All Hallows Junior School. Then,

1945 he was at sea in the training cruiser Frobisher .

Derek Henderson’s memorial

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