A 'proud' grandad who survived tuberculosis, World War ll and covid has died aged 98.
Frederick Arthur Cooke was born in Birkenhead in January 1924 and signed up for the Royal Navy 'as soon as he could' during the Second World War. Fred, known as 'the cat' by his family due to him having 'so many lives', trained on British beaches for the D-Day landing and went to France onboard the Landing Craft LCT2289 helping ferry troops and tanks.
His time serving came to an end after he contracted tuberculosis and spent around one year recovering in Cheshire.
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His son, Derek, said: "He told his family only a few stories about the war but one was how frighteningly noisy it was with missiles and bullets flying overhead. This probably led to his poor hearing later in life.
"However, he was so proud to have served his country and forever spoke of his love of the navy."
Fred went on to have several serious illnesses throughout his life but 'never gave up' when doctors only gave him a five percent chance to pull through. He caught Covid in April 2020 before having the vaccine aged 96, but recovered after 14 days.
Fred passed away peacefully on April 8, and leaves behind his three sons, three grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
After hearing about his life, veteran supporter Julie Francis got involved in the funeral planning to make sure he had the send off he deserved. At the funeral on Wednesday, April 20 around 35 veterans and serving members attended along with the family, a bugler, and a piper.
Julie said: "The least we can do is thank our fallen generation because without them we wouldn't be here."
