York’s last-surviving veteran of the D-Day landings, Ken Cooke, was honoured by First Bus on 5 March, when the operator named one of its fleet after him. Ken will be 100 years old in August, and landed on Gold Beach on the Normandy coast in June 1944, aged 18.
Ken was told that he was visiting the firm’s depot to meet with managers and engineers to have a tour, but was surprised by family and friends who arrived at the James Street depot on board the bus bearing his name.
Somewhat flabbergasted, Ken said “what the hell is going on here, then?” and boarded the bus to cheers, flags waving and hugs from fellow York veterans.
General Manager of First Bus in York Joel Bradley said: “As soon as we heard about Ken there was no hesitation in agreeing to name a bus after him. I met him for the first time a few weeks ago and he is a truly inspiring character. We hope he enjoys this honour as much as the medals he has rightly received during his lifetime.”
Ken was a member of the Fishergate Army Cadets when he was called up on his eighteenth birthday and sent to Catterick for basic training and then posted to The Green Howards, 7th Battalion. He recalls the tests to decide which regiment he would join. “There were pieces of metal lying a table, I had no idea what and had to assemble them. Turned out to be a bicycle pump.”
Shortly before D-Day his battalion was transferred to a camp in Hampshire and it was only then, when shown photographs and a model of the French coastline, that Ken and his comrades became aware of where they were to go into action. Arriving in the port of Southampton on 5 June 1944, Ken said he was amazed at the sights. “I’d never seen anything like it. I’d only visited a beach once in my childhood, as I grew up in mining town.”
As the ship approached the Normandy coast in the early hours of 6 June, the soldiers took to the landing craft. He lent over the side, looking at a scene of explosions and dust on the beach. “I wasn’t bothered about bullets flying and explosions, I was more concerned about my socks getting wet!” said Ken.
The reality of what he experienced in the first 24 hours as he as his comrades fought their way inland only began to sink in the following morning as he discovered that many had died. “That’s when it became real,” he added.
A few weeks after D-Day Ken was seriously wounded and sent back to the UK for treatment. Later he was posted to Germany but again came under shelling and was diagnosed with what is now known as PTSD and returned home. He was discharged from the Army, still aged 18, and went back to his former job in the Blacksmiths shop at Rowntrees, where he worked for 48 years until retirement.
The French government awarded him the Légion d’Honneur for his bravery and in 2025 Ken is the last surviving member of the York Normandy Veterans.
He is a regular customer on First’s U1 and U2 bus services which he uses to travel into the city centre from his home, where he has lived since he bought the house in 1953.
