Commander Frederick Norton Cook, RAN
Date1942
Object numberANMS1445[125]
NamePhotograph
MediumBlack and white photographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 226 × 302 mm
Image: 240 × 165 mm
Image: 240 × 165 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Rhod Cook
HistoryThis photograph was taken around the time Cook participated in Operation Biting, a British Combined Operations raid on a German radar installation at Bruneval in northern France, which took place on the night of 27–28 February 1942. Cook was the raid's Naval Force Commander.SignificanceThe photographic portrait of Frederick Cook as a RAN Commander dates to the Second World War, and depicts the types of uniform worn by RAN officers at this time. It is one of three dated photographs in the collection that depict Cook in naval uniform at different phases of his career.
Frederick Cook served with distinction during the Second World War and was mentioned in despatches twice. He was also presented to King George IV and awarded the DSC for gallantry. He was also the only Australian aboard HMS Royal Oak when it was torpedoed at Scapa Flow in September 1939, and one of only 400 of Royal Oak's complement of 1200 to survive the ship's loss. At the time Cook appeared in this photograph, he was Naval Force Commander of Operation Biting, a Combined Operations raid on a German radar installation at Bruneval in northern France in 1942. For his role in the raid, Cook was awarded the DSC, and was later tasked with organising and commanding Australia's first Combined Operations Training Centre.
