On Monday 13 July, Millthorpe School was delighted to once again welcome York D-Day Veteran Ken Cooke into school to meet and talk to students. Ken is no stranger to Millthorpe, as this is his third visit! It is the second time that he has spoken to a cohort of Year 9 students, having done the same last year as they learn about D-Day as part of their history topic “What was the most significant turning point of World War Two?” We were also incredibly moved when Mr Cooke joined us for Remembrance Day last November.
To further prepare the students for their talk, their morning Form Time reading focussed on D-Day, with a recap of the events and a reading from the diary of another D-Day Veteran, WM Christie, who is the Great-Great Grandfather of a current Year 10 student. When they were told about their new topic last year, the student approached Mr Baybutt and offered to share this diary entry from D-Day, so this was used as the reading material. WM Christie was a gunner on HMS Doon – a destroyer which was one of the first vessels across The Channel responsible for sweeping for mines. Like Ken, W.M. Christie miraculously survived D-Day and the war.
In the afternoon, 200 excited Year 9 students gathered in the Main Hall where Mr Cooke, who turned 100 this year and last week was given the Freedom of the City of York, waited to tell them all about his experiences.
Ken explained to his captivated audience that he was called up aged 18 and being sent to basic training. He explained just how basic this training was, reminding the students “This is all the training we got for D-Day.”
He explained being in awe as he arrived at Southampton on 4th June 1944, seeing the masses of ships assembled, and realised he was about to take part in something monumental. Ken was onboard one of the first vessels to arrive at Gold Beach, shortly after 7.45am on 6th June. When asked how he felt, Ken simply said “excited.” He had never sailed before, had only been on a beach once (in Skegness), had never been to France before and remarkably, had never experienced active combat before. D-Day was his first experience of fighting in the War.
As they approached, Ken explained how the sound was like nothing he had ever experienced, and the sight of bullets and explosions was incredible. Despite this, Ken was overcome with excitement as he approached Gold Beach. He said, “It was like 1,000 fireworks’ nights all at once. I don’t know why I did it, but I just rested on the side and watched it all happen.” Ken recalled hearing about some men getting caught between vessels and therefore not making it onto the beach, whilst others mistakenly thought that the sand dunes were the beach, and they dropped into the sea in full kit, never to resurface. He conceded that this was really tough to learn of, but he carried on with excitement and his biggest worry was that his feet were wet and wondered when he might get some dry socks to put on.
Ken’s battalion made excellent progress and achieved their objectives, in fact, they were ordered to halt their advance so that they could await further supplies. As they took a brief rest, Ken and his fellow soldiers began to ask where some of their friends were.
“That was when it hit me. They were dead. This was serious. These were real bullets, and they were coming after you.” This is when Ken’s excitement was partially replaced by a realisation of the situation he was in. Shortly after, he found about 5 enemy soldiers lying in a ditch pretending to be dead. He noticed the eyelid on one soldier twitch, so they were taken as prisoner.
Ken later suffered a serious shrapnel wound and returned to Britain to recover. He again joked that the biggest problem was not his injury, but needing to have injections in his buttocks every thirty minutes! He was placed in a full torso and right arm plaster cast and recalled a nurse providing him with a knitting needle to enable him to ease an itch.
After recovering, Ken was returned to action in Germany, where he explained that he expected to rejoin his original regiment, only to learn that they had suffered “a pasting in Nijmegen” and he was reallocated. After crossing the Rhine, Ken approached the German city of Bremen and there, Ken was injured for a second time towards the end of the war and upon being inspected by a Doctor, was told that his original injury was so severe that he should have never been sent back to the front. Ken told us he barked at the Doctor “Now you tell me!”
Ken’s war was over, and the Second World War ended not long afterwards. Ken’s hour-long talk concluded to rapturous applause from the students. They understood how lucky they were to hear a first-hand account from a World War Two veteran.
Year 9 students were able to meet Ken, shake his hand, ask questions and get a photo. Here, Louis asks Ken about his medals.
But Ken’s visit was not finished just yet. Students from other year groups, who were not lucky enough to attend his talk, were invited to come along to the Main Hall at the end of the school day, and more than 50 students did so.
Below, Ken gives some life advice to our youngest students, Year 7s Cali and Jacob who had come along to meet them. He told them to “stay out of trouble”, amongst other things!
Ken was so unbelievably generous with his time and spoke to everyone who had come along to meet him. Whilst he again joked that each photo was £5, Ken more than obliged and he answered lots of the students’ questions, explained his medals, and gave them advice.
Millthorpe School’s Assistant Principal and Teacher of History Adam Baybutt, who organised this visit alongside Ken’s Granddaughter Helen Mackley said:
“It was simply wonderful to welcome Ken back to Millthorpe again. When he first visited us last year, I honestly thought it would have been a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to listen to his story. Today was his third visit, having joined us for Remembrance Day in November too, and he has become a friend of the school. He knows staff by name, and greets everyone wherever he goes. I now have three overriding highlights of my 18-year career at Millthorpe, and all of them involve Ken!
I was incredibly proud of the students who were impeccable and listened to Ken’s talk with interest and complete respect. I think they realised just how lucky they were to meet a D-Day veteran. I was also beyond proud of the number of students who came along after school to meet Ken and ask him questions.
I want to extend my sincere thanks to Ken Cooke for once again providing this opportunity for our students, for his generosity with his time, and for his words of encouragement and advice. This is a day that they will always remember, and I am truly grateful. Thank you also to my wonderful colleague Helen Mackley for making this happen.
As I shook Ken’s hand and thanked him again, he simply said “No problem, any time.”
14 July 2026
