Spitfire P7624 near Catterick.
On 4th November 1941 the pilot of this 145 Squadron aircraft had just taken off from Catterick airfield when he begun performing aerobatics at 400 feet, he
lost control of the aircraft at low level and while his speed was still relatively slow which gave him no time to try and regain control before
the aircraft struck the ground half a mile south of Catterick airfield at Killerby. The crash investigation found that the starboard undercarriage
leg was not fully retracted at the time of the accident and combined with the low level and flying speed this caused him to loose control.
Pilot - F/O Rolla Maxwell Cooke RAAF (402316), aged 23, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Rolla Cooke and his gravestone in Catterick Cemetery, where he was buried on 6th November 1941. At the time of his death he had flown a total
of 27.35 hours on the Spitfire type and a grand total on 230 hours flying in all aircraft. He attended Sydney University prior to enlisting in the
RAAF and held a B.Ec degree. I thank Mr Robert Thomson for allowing the photograph of Rolla Cooke to appear on this webpage, his father Alan Thomson
had undertook initial pilot training with Rolla Cooke and this photograph was found in his photograph album.
Spitfire P7624 was built to contract B.981687/39 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Castle Bromwich and was delivered to 37 MU at Burtonwood on
11th November 1940. Eight days later it was taken on charge by 41 Squadron at Hornchurch, on 23rd February 1941 it moved with the unit to Catterick
and was damaged at Catterick on 24th July 1941, Cat.A/FA damage was probably as bad as it got as a result of this incident. It was taken on charge by 145 Squadron when they arrived at
Catterick and slightly damaged again on 11th September 1941. On 4th November 1941 Cat.E2/FA damage was recorded on the paperwork following the fatal crash at Killerby near Catterick. It was struck
off charge on 9th November 1941.