Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 2017-2020 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 files, 36.2MB
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Harriett was a PhD candidate at University of York between 2017 and 2020. As part of her PhD research, she carried out face to face interviews with a number of Second World War veterans.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Ken Cooke was an Infantryman in the Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment) for eighteen months between 1943 and 1945. He received his letter of conscription at the age of 18 just before Christmas 1943. Before joining the army he worked in a Royal Ordnance Factory as an office boy with his father. Ken was a member of the allied forces who landed on Gold beach on D-Day 1944. Ken was injured by shrapnel from an exploding shell after which he was sent from a field hospital in France, back to a hospital in England. After his recovery he was sent back to France to join up with Canadian troops. They fought their way to Bremmen where Ken suffered from shellshock and was returned again to England where he was demobbed. Ken is now a member of the York Normandy Veterans Association.
York Normandy Veterans Association
See Also - Normandy Veterans Association
Repository
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Two files recording interviews with Ken Cooke. The interviews 'took place on August 7th 2017 in the presence of Nick Beilby (NB) at the interviewee's home' (transcript).
The interview transcript (HBE/1/11) provides the following background information about Ken Cook: 'Ken Cooke was born in 1925. He served as an Infantryman in the Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment). He landed on Gold Beach on June 6th 1944. After the war, Ken returned to York and worked for Rowntree’s for nearly fifty years..'
The interviews include discussion about whether Ken considers himself a veteran, coming home from war, how long it took for soldiers to open up about their experiences, the British Legion, the NVA, being on television, medals, D-Day.
Accruals
System of arrangement
The parent folder (2020-008) contains eighteen audio files (constituting ten interviews) and one Microsoft Word document.
Arrangement intervention is level 1 (no intervention by the archivist). The original material has been retained without any intervention by the archives staff. This does mean that the collection may include filenames containing spelling mistakes and duplicate files that were placed in the wrong folder(s) by the creator.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Material is available subject to the usual terms and conditions of access to Archives and Local History collections.
Conditions governing reproduction
Images are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
See also York Normandy Veterans archive (NVA).