Irish sleuth reaches out to Inverell community to help solve riddle of Norman Cooper

Norman Athol Cooper was just 25 when he died in a tragic accident over the skies of Ireland in 1944.

For years, his bereaved mother would place an advertisement in The Inverell Times on the anniversary of her son's death.

"In loving memory of our dear son, killed in an aircraft accident in Northern Ireland on June 19, 1944, also of the gallant crew," the advertisement read.

Then the advertisements stopped; Rhoda May Cooper herself died in 1982, aged 95 years.

Now, from the other side of the world, an amateur sleuth is appealing to anyone who may know of Norman, or who may be related, to help him solve the riddle of his death and short life.

Dennis Burke is a 45-year-old aircraft engineer from Ireland who has spent the past 23 years contacting the families of Allied airmen who died in crashes in neutral Ireland in World War II.

"During the war, over 330 men from all waring nations were killed in aircraft accidents in or around Ireland," Mr Burke said.

"Another 660 or so survived accidents and emergency landings, with some being interned for months in an Irish Army camp.

"Nineteen of these men were Australian, with nine of those losing their lives, including Norman."

Norman's final resting place is in the Tamlaght Finlagan Church of Ireland graveyard.

He lies next to another Australian, fellow Flight Sergeant Kenneth John Nielsen, of Hamilton, NSW, who also died in the same aircraft accident on June 19, 1944. Kenneth was aged just 20.

The skies were dark and grey on that fateful day in 1944, when three aircraft took off from airstrips in County Donegal.

All three aircraft were from the 59 Squadron, based in Ireland. All crashed within several hours of each other, largely due to the foggy conditions.

There were no survivors from any of the crashes.

It was left to Senior Leader Arden to send telegrams to the families of the 19 Australian crew, including Norman, advising them of their sons' fate.

To Norman's mother Snr/Ldr Arden wrote: "On the afternoon of June 19th, at approximately 1.55pm, Kenneth and his crew took off from this aerodrome to carry out an anti-U-boat patrol in connection with the second front.

"Shortly afterwards his aircraft was reported to have crashed on a lonely mountainside and all the crew had been killed instantly, so avoiding all suffering.

"We lost one of our best crews when this aircraft crashed. Two of the eight members of your son's crew were Australians."

When he enrolled in the RAAF in September, 1941 Norman gave his occupation as carpenter.

He attended Tingha Public School between 1930 and 1932, leaving school aged just 14 and initially working as a miner for three years.

After enlisting in the army, Norman was posted to the Bahamas in 1943, before sailing to the UK and ultimately being posted in Ireland.

Within a year of his posting there, Norman was dead.

His death struck his family hard. Three years after the end of World War II Norman's father, Alfred Ernest Cooper, wrote to the Australian authorities, who had sent photos of their son's grave: "Owing to the sorrow and suffering caused by the photograph of our son's grave which you have from time to time sent us, I would kindly request you to not send any more to me but address to my daughter."

Indeed Norman is named on his father's grave on a marker which reads: "In memory of Norman, killed in action on June 19, 1942."

A Denise May Cooper is buried at Tingha cemetery. She died in December, 2021, aged 72.

But there are few other traces of Norman's relatives.

For Mr Burke, the story is one of more than 600 he has been diligently researching, reaching out to families in Britain, Canada and the United States, trying to bring closure to relatives and others who may recall those who lost their lives during World War II while serving in Ireland.

He has also set up a website, http://www.ww2irishaviation.com, in the hopes of recording more information about these servicemen.

"It would be nice to see if Norman's nieces and nephews are still in the area and if he is remembered," Mr Burke said.

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