Roy Cooke was a prominent pre war sportsman and ruby player, but at the outbreak of the Second World War, he volunteered for military service and enlisted into the Queen?s Westminster Rifles. Selected for a commission he was appointed a Lieutenant in the Queen?s Royal West Kent Regiment and was posted to the Middle East. Now with the rank of Captain, he one day wondered into the HQ of 11 Commando and asked to join. At this time the Commando unit was undergoing great changes, with a number of Officers being posted out. Although with no commando training he was very enthusiastic and could speak fluent Italian. On the 9th November the unit received Orders for Operation Flipper, the attack on Field Marshal Rommel?s HQ and specific objectives in the surrounding area. The commandos would be transported in two submarines and dropped behind the lines. The raid would be lead by Lt Col Keyes who would receive the Victoria Cross for the action. Cooke was berthed with Keyes on the outward trip onboard the submarine HMS Torbay. The operation would be dogged by bad luck from the start, The commandos were landed in small groups, however the drift moved the submarines from the embarkation position and this had to be rectified making the landings take longer than expected, Cook and Keyes patrolled up and down the beach. eventually the party moved off to a slow start, freezing conditions, driving rain and weighted down with equipment. After lying up during the day, they finally reached Rommel?s HQ. Cooke received his final orders to blow the cable mast at the Cyrene Crossroads, a trek of some 10 miles. As Keyes and his group sent off for Rommel?s Villa, Cooke set out with his party of six men, his first objective, been telephone wires, the problem was that no wire cutters were in the kit, only a pair of pliers. This job complete, they once again sent off for the Cyrene crossroads. The decision was made to capture the first car that would pass. After some time headlights were spotted and Cooke moved to the middle of the road, with a torch waving the car down, which as it drew near, speeded up just missing him. The commandos sprayed the car with machine gun fire, which crashed off the side of the road. The Italian Officer and driver unharmed running at speed into the darkness. After several attempts the car would not start and they had to given up . One of the party had lost his plimsoll earlier and with a bare foot on rocky ground was finding the going hard. Cooke ordered him back to the pickup point and sent another man with him. The party was now down to five and with the weight of the other mens explosive set off once again in the driving rain. The cable mast was finally reached and the explosives, set, the group crouched in anticipation, nothing happened. Subjected to 16 hours of rain, which had socked through all the oilskin pouches the fuses had been ruined. The Matches had suffered a similar fate. With dawn beginning to light the sky, things were getting desperate and a 36 Grenade, was placed under the charge, the pin pulled and Cooke ran like hell, the grenade misfired. A second attempt was made it exploded with a low crump and nothing. Facing defeat, one of the party remembered a self-igniting thermite incendiary he had scrounged on the Torbay would do the job. This worked bring the cables down and three of the four poles. The party now had to make a run for it back to the RV point. During that day they hid in a crypt in a grave yard and the during the night once again trekked across country. Only 5 miles from the pick up beach and with a day to waste, they came across a group of pro British Arabs who lead them to a safe cave. However during the day, an Italian patrol, alerted by the destroyed cable mast and machine gunned car, came across their hide. Two Italians entered the cave, Cooke with his revolver fired, mortally wounding one, the other running to shout an alert. A score of Italian grenades were thrown into the cave and a defence would be futile. Cooke informed his men, he was going out to surrender he told them ?If they shoot me you?d better dash out get as many as you can and go down fighting?. This was not necessary as the Italians took their surrender. This proved the right decision, as two Breda machine guns covered the mouth of the cave and a dash would have been futile. Now a POW of the Italians, it was only a short time, before he and a Capt Playne of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars made an escape. They were caught and returned to the camp. However The Divisional Commander General Nicolo Bellomo, asked them to demonstrate how they escaped, which they did. Bellomo panicked and ordered his men to open fire on the two British Officers. Playne was killed, Cooke injured. This crime would not be forgotten and Bellomo was the first Officer in the Mediterranean to be tried as a War Criminal, found guilty of the execution of Playne, he was shot by firing squad in 1945. After his release Cooke returned to the UK, spending some time in hospital, before been posted to the Commando Depot. He was awarded the MC in 1945. He died of Polio during the 1950?s