Frank Cooper (civil servant)
Sir Frank Cooper,
Biography
Cooper was born in Droylsden, Manchester, the younger child of Valentine Holland Cooper, a commercial traveller, and later a manager for a chocolate making firm, and Wynnefred Louisa, née Gardner, a teacher. His sister was the social worker Joan Davies Cooper.
He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, before beginning training as an accountant in 1939. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1941 and was commissioned in 1942. After pilot training in the United States, he flew Spitfires in the Italian campaign. In 1944, he was shot down and was posted missing. Captured by German troops, he managed to escape and rejoined his unit with the help of Italian partisans. He became a flight commander in the No. 111 Squadron, and ended the war in the Far East. He declined the offer of an extended commission and was demobilized in 1946.
Cooper then went to
In 1955, he was promoted to Assistant Secretary as one of the joint heads of the Air Staff Secretariat. In this capacity, he was involved in the run-up to the
In 1964, the Air Ministry was merged into the newly created
Cooper was appointed
Honours
For his work on Cyprus, Cooper was appointed a CMG in 1961. He was subsequently appointed CB in 1970, promoted to KCB in 1974, and GCB in 1979. He was sworn of the
References
- https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-76638?rskey=v5mtlD&result=3
- https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-11793?rskey=4YHJtF&result=1
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1383114/Sir-Frank-Cooper.html
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-frank-cooper-9224983.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/jan/31/guardianobituaries.falklands