Derbyshire Lads: The Men: Jack Cooper

John 'Jack' Cooper DCM

The Man Who Christened A Trench.

John Cooper was born in New Mills, Derbyshire on 3rd October 1896, but to the world at large, certainly his later comrades in arms, he was known as, 'Jack,' and will remain so throughout this story. Jack's mother Martha and his father Charles came to New Mills from Herefordshire, Charles to help build the large bridge structure over Torrs Gorge. Significantly, the family home was in a street called Torr Top. Jack had an older brother, named Charles after his father but was known as Charlie. Born in 1886 Charlie was 10 years older than Jack and in 1914 a married man, who was employed as an engraver by Walter Campbell and Co. he was also a member of New Mills Old Prize Band. At eighteen Jack was already an athlete of local note and a member of the TA.

When the war broke out Jack immediately volunteered for overseas service with the Sherwood Foresters. It is not certain exactly when, but it was most likely during the first flush of recruiting zeal, that brother Charlie also joined up with the Foresters. Family history has it that his main motive was to look after his much younger brother, a sentiment which very clearly demonstrates the closeness of the bond between them. Already a trained TA soldier Jack arrived in France with the 1st/ 5th Battalion in February 1915, aged 18 years and 5 months, and underwent his baptism of fire in the northern sector of the Ypres Salient. On April 22nd to start the Second Battle of Ypres the Germans introduced Chlorine gas to the Western Front, killing many hundreds of allied troops by asphixiation in just a few minutes. Jack was amongst those who experienced this horror but, although affected, was certainly back in the line a few weeks later.

By May 1915, probably because of the losses in the April fighting, brother Charlie of the 1st/ 6th Battalion was where he had intended to be, in the trenches with his young brother. Unfortunately their time together was tragically short-lived and Charlie was shot by a sniper in sight of Jack. The sniper's bullet was not immediately fatal and Charlie even made it back to a hospital in Blighty where he died on the 9th of June aged 29. It must have been some small comfort for Jack to know that Charlie was buried with full military honours in St George's Churchyard, New Mills, their mother and father and his brother's widow, Elizabeth, in attendance. Within less than four months Jack had not only become familiar with the conditions of a war unlike any other but been gassed and had seen his brother mortally wounded. One can but try to imagine the effect these events would have on the mind of an 18 year old.

The beginning of July 1915 saw Jack's battalion occupying an area of the Ypres Salient known as Hill 62, at the edge of Sanctuary Wood, close to the German lines. After the gains of their April pushes the Germans now held much of the high ground in the area and the Allied positions had to be strengthened and improved. It was down to the likes of Jack and his mates to do a lot of nocturnal digging and at this point Jack can take over the story himself:

"I was with the Sherwood Foresters at Ypres in 1915 when we were holding the front line. There were very few communication trenches to the front line and we had to start digging some. In my sector were other local lads…Fred Wright and Frank Swann…and we had to dig the communication trenches because a 'brass hat' was visiting us the next night. The Germans were sending up verey lights. By the light of one I took a field post card out of my pocket, wrote Torr Top Trench on it, and, with a bullet from out of my pouch, stuck it into the side of the trench. Next night the 'brass hat' came, and when a verey light went up he spotted the postcard notice. I can see him now, wearing a monocle, as he turned to one of his staff officers and asked, 'What does that say?' 'Torr Top Tunnel, sir,' said the officer. 'Very appropriate.' Said the brass hat. It was appropriate too, because the trench was on rising ground. So the trench became 'Torr Top Trench' officially, and the Engineers put up the board which is now in the library, giving the connecting trench the name 'Tor Top' one of the r's having been left off."

The writer can only surmise as to why a trench became a tunnel, or seemingly a series of tunnels. Trenches with a semblance of a roof for basic protection, or camouflage, seem most likely. Who knows, but Jack named a trench so far as history is concerned and the box lid that made up the sign bears the position's map co-ordinates 1.24.d8.4. Jack and the 1st/5th Battalion seem only to have held the Tor Top trenches from the beginning of July 1915 until about the 5th of August, but since the sign was still in position at the end of the war it suggests the original diggings would almost certainly have been extended and improved in the following years of the conflict. There is even evidence that for a time in June 1916 Tor Top was in German hands after their attack on Mount Sorrel and Sanctuary Wood.

Detailed research could probably follow Jacks progress with the 1st/5th battalion after the trench naming episode but the writer is putting together this story according to what evidence the family can provide. Such evidence records the next significant point in Jack's progress through the war a year on, at the start of the Battle of The Somme in 1916.

The British attack on the village of Gommecourt on the 1st of July 1916 was termed a 'tactical diversion' to draw attention from the main Allied thrust to the south. A large oak called the 'Kaiser's Oak' in Gommecourt Park marked the extremity of German occupation in France and two Territorial divisions, the 56th and the 46th including Jack's 1st/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters were given the task of nipping off this salient. Unfortunately both divisions were well under strength and already exhausted when they went over the top in the early dawn to begin the Somme offensive and, as elsewhere, the enemy was ready and waiting for them. Carnage ensued and by the end of that first day the two divisions between them had lost almost 7,000 officers and men killed, missing or wounded. Jack was one of the wounded amongst over 400 casualties in the 1st/5th Battalion. The High Command at the time termed the battle to capture Commecourt a 'catastrophic failure,' but later historians have termed it a battle fought by exhausted soldiers asked to do the impossible.

Further evidence of Jack's progress through WW1, so far as the family archives go, is sparse and not a little confusing. Any tangible evidence comes from the only citation to his DCM in our possession. It was to sent to Jack after the War and dated 1st January 1919 as an extract from The London Gazette, and even that is incomplete, promising some extra information with the inclusion…."No deed yet published." Did Jack ever get that extra accolade? The writer finds it inconceivable that he did not. Also, a soldier awarded the DCM would have been given the opportunity to have it presented by the Monarch at Buckingham palace, but it seems that Jack was quite content to have it delivered by post and fill in an attached form (post paid) confirming its delivery by return to the lietenant colonel, Infantry Records, Lichfield. How very typical of the man family and friends knew, loved and admired for his innate sense of humour and gentle reserve. Over the years it was inevitable that certain aspects of Jacks story would come to light and it was as far back as early in1918 that we find reference to Jack in the newspapers. The High Peak Reporter covered the news of his DCM thus: "Corporal Cooper of the New Mills Territorials has written home confirming the news that he has been awarded the DCM. He does not state what gained him the decoration. His comrades say that what he did was worthy of a higher award."

Further snippets from later newspaper articles have Jack winning his DCM for: "Saving a comrade during the battle of Gommecourt;" and for: "Taking command of his unit after the death of the commanding officer and leading his men from the trenches to destroy an enemy machinegun post (location and action not mentioned)." As a family we simply do not know what the specific 'deed' was. The only citation extant is one which states: "For conspicuous devotion to duty and consistent good work since September 1916 to date. He had on several occasions as section commander showed very great gallantry in action and excellent leadership." The words, 'to date,' meaning until the confirmation of the DCM award in early1918. The wound Jack suffered at Gommecourt obviously only kept him out of the line until September 1916 and the general citation certainly mentions gallantry in action after that, more than likely in the fighting of 1917 and possibly in the final German push of early 1918. The writer is fairly certain that what Cpl Jack did to earn his DCM was during some action during the winter of 1917-18 but the family has no evidence to pinpoint it. The 1st/5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters went on to play a part in the breaching of the famous Hindenburg Line and the final rolling back of the German army leading to The Armistice and Jack was with them all the way.

The original notice board bearing the name Tor Top Tunnels and its co-ordinates was secured and brought back from Belgium after the end of the Great War by a Brigadier Goodman who presented it to New Mills Council as a relic to be honoured. It most certainly has been, and because of it so has the original tiny cobbled street of Torr Top. Jack died in 1975 but his son Geoge unveiled a plaque in 2002 to honour not only his father but three more of Jack's childhood friends who lived within a stone's throw of each other. One was another holder of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and two others were holders of the Military Medal. The plaque reads:

BRAVO TORR TOP!

This part of New Mills is famed forever for giving its name to one of the hottest parts of the battle line in France. In Torr Top Street there is a winner of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and a winner of the Military Medal, whilst in the little street below Torr Top Mission there is another winner of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and another winner of the Military Medal. All honour to Torr Top! Where in England is there another place so small in area which has so distinguished itself in the war? Torr Top should be enshrined in the hearts of New Mills people! Torr Top, above all other places, should be made a place for heroes to live.
High Peak Reporter 1919.

Corporal John Cooper of Torr Top Street joined the Sherwood Foresters in 1914. He served in France throughout the war. He was both gassed and wounded. Corporal Cooper was awarded the DCM "for Distinguished Conduct in the field". But he had another claim to fame for it was he who gave the name Torr Top to a trench in the Ypres area. The name was printed on a board and appeared on the official Military Map. Following the Armistice, the board, splattered still with the mud of Flanders, was presented to the town.

After the War Jack married Louise, a lady he always called 'Louie', and they had two children, a daughter Barbara, and son George, born when Jack was forty. He worked for a time as a cloth printer after his demob and for some thirty years had a window cleaning business. Jack ended his working life as a porter at New Mills railway station and died on May 23rd 1975. In his obituary the High Peak Reporter, after mentioning his DCM and the Tor Top story, summed him up as a man with…"a grand sense of humour - and he had a host of friends." The writer certainly remembers the sense of humour and Jack's abiding interest in sport, in particular the noble art of boxing. Watching Jack watching a boxing match on the TV was entertainment in itself. He would be totally involved, leaning forward on the edge of his chair, shoulders well hunched and fists as well as eyes following every punch while other enthusiasts in the room wisely kept their distance. At such moments one could see beyond the gentle, and always smiling exterior to the consummate soldier moulded by bloody experience and personal tragedy, and yet the humour always won through.

___

This site has benefited many times from excellent contributions from descendants of the men commemorated within it, but rarely have I received such a well researched and written article. My very grateful thanks go to those who who wrote this article: Mike Barton, George Barton (son of Jack) and Jack's grand-daughter Pat and her husband Rod. In particular I must acknowledge Mike for contacting me and being so patinet during a lengthy, if unavoidable delay, in placing this story on the site.


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John 'Jack' Cooper DCM The Man Who Christened A Trench. John Cooper was born in New Mills, Derbyshire on 3rd October 1896, but to the world at large, certainly his later comrades in arms, he was known as, 'Jack,' and will remain so throughout this story. Jack's mother Martha and his father Charles came to New Mills from Herefordshire, Charles to help build the large bridge structure over Torrs Gorge. Significantly, the family home was in a street called Torr Top. Jack had an older brother, named Charles after his father but was known as Charlie. Born in 1886 Charlie was 10 years older than Jack and in 1914 a married man, who was employed as an engraver by Walter Campbell and Co. he was also a member of New Mills Old Prize Band. At eighteen Jack was already an athlete of local note and a member of the TA. When the war broke out Jack immediately volunteered for overseas service with the Sherwood Foresters. It is not certain exactly when, but it was most likely during the first flush of recruiting zeal, that brother Charlie also joined up with the Foresters. Family history has it that his main motive was to look after his much younger brother, a sentiment which very clearly demonstrates the closeness of the bond between them. Already a trained TA soldier Jack arrived in France with the 1st/ 5th Battalion in February 1915, aged 18 years and 5 months, and underwent his baptism of fire in the northern sector of the Ypres Salient. On April 22nd to start the Second Battle of Ypres the Germans introduced Chlorine gas to the Western Front, killing many hundreds of allied troops by asphixiation in just a few minutes. Jack was amongst those who experienced this horror but, although affected, was certainly back in the line a few weeks later. By May 1915, probably because of the losses in the April fighting, brother Charlie of the 1st/ 6th Battalion was where he had intended to be, in the trenches with his young brother. Unfortunately their time together was tragically short-lived and Charlie was shot by a sniper in sight of Jack. The sniper's bullet was not immediately fatal and Charlie even made it back to a hospital in Blighty where he died on the 9th of June aged 29. It must have been some small comfort for Jack to know that Charlie was buried with full military honours in St George's Churchyard, New Mills, their mother and father and his brother's widow, Elizabeth, in attendance. Within less than four months Jack had not only become familiar with the conditions of a war unlike any other but been gassed and had seen his brother mortally wounded. One can but try to imagine the effect these events would have on the mind of an 18 year old. The beginning of July 1915 saw Jack's battalion occupying an area of the Ypres Salient known as Hill 62, at the edge of Sanctuary Wood, close to the German lines. After the gains of their April pushes the Germans now held much of the high ground in the area and the Allied positions had to be strengthened and improved. It was down to the likes of Jack and his mates to do a lot of nocturnal digging and at this point Jack can take over the story himself: "I was with the Sherwood Foresters at Ypres in 1915 when we were holding the front line. There were very few communication trenches to the front line and we had to start digging some. In my sector were other local lads…Fred Wright and Frank Swann…and we had to dig the communication trenches because a 'brass hat' was visiting us the next night. The Germans were sending up verey lights. By the light of one I took a field post card out of my pocket, wrote Torr Top Trench on it, and, with a bullet from out of my pouch, stuck it into the side of the trench. Next night the 'brass hat' came, and when a verey light went up he spotted the postcard notice. I can see him now, wearing a monocle, as he turned to one of his staff officers and asked, 'What does that say?' 'Torr Top Tunnel, sir,' said the officer. 'Very appropriate.' Said the brass hat. It was appropriate too, because the trench was on rising ground. So the trench became 'Torr Top Trench' officially, and the Engineers put up the board which is now in the library, giving the connecting trench the name 'Tor Top' one of the r's having been left off." The writer can only surmise as to why a trench became a tunnel, or seemingly a series of tunnels. Trenches with a semblance of a roof for basic protection, or camouflage, seem most likely. Who knows, but Jack named a trench so far as history is concerned and the box lid that made up the sign bears the position's map co-ordinates 1.24.d8.4. Jack and the 1st/5th Battalion seem only to have held the Tor Top trenches from the beginning of July 1915 until about the 5th of August, but since the sign was still in position at the end of the war it suggests the original diggings would almost certainly have been extended and improved in the following years of the conflict. There is even evidence that for a time in June 1916 Tor Top was in German hands after their attack on Mount Sorrel and Sanctuary Wood. Detailed research could probably follow Jacks progress with the 1st/5th battalion after the trench naming episode but the writer is putting together this story according to what evidence the family can provide. Such evidence records the next significant point in Jack's progress through the war a year on, at the start of the Battle of The Somme in 1916. The British attack on the village of Gommecourt on the 1st of July 1916 was termed a 'tactical diversion' to draw attention from the main Allied thrust to the south. A large oak called the 'Kaiser's Oak' in Gommecourt Park marked the extremity of German occupation in France and two Territorial divisions, the 56th and the 46th including Jack's 1st/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters were given the task of nipping off this salient. Unfortunately both divisions were well under strength and already exhausted when they went over the top in the early dawn to begin the Somme offensive and, as elsewhere, the enemy was ready and waiting for them. Carnage ensued and by the end of that first day the two divisions between them had lost almost 7,000 officers and men killed, missing or wounded. Jack was one of the wounded amongst over 400 casualties in the 1st/5th Battalion. The High Command at the time termed the battle to capture Commecourt a 'catastrophic failure,' but later historians have termed it a battle fought by exhausted soldiers asked to do the impossible. Further evidence of Jack's progress through WW1, so far as the family archives go, is sparse and not a little confusing. Any tangible evidence comes from the only citation to his DCM in our possession. It was to sent to Jack after the War and dated 1st January 1919 as an extract from The London Gazette, and even that is incomplete, promising some extra information with the inclusion…."No deed yet published." Did Jack ever get that extra accolade? The writer finds it inconceivable that he did not. Also, a soldier awarded the DCM would have been given the opportunity to have it presented by the Monarch at Buckingham palace, but it seems that Jack was quite content to have it delivered by post and fill in an attached form (post paid) confirming its delivery by return to the lietenant colonel, Infantry Records, Lichfield. How very typical of the man family and friends knew, loved and admired for his innate sense of humour and gentle reserve. Over the years it was inevitable that certain aspects of Jacks story would come to light and it was as far back as early in1918 that we find reference to Jack in the newspapers. The High Peak Reporter covered the news of his DCM thus: "Corporal Cooper of the New Mills Territorials has written home confirming the news that he has been awarded the DCM. He does not state what gained him the decoration. His comrades say that what he did was worthy of a higher award." Further snippets from later newspaper articles have Jack winning his DCM for: "Saving a comrade during the battle of Gommecourt;" and for: "Taking command of his unit after the death of the commanding officer and leading his men from the trenches to destroy an enemy machinegun post (location and action not mentioned)." As a family we simply do not know what the specific 'deed' was. The only citation extant is one which states: "For conspicuous devotion to duty and consistent good work since September 1916 to date. He had on several occasions as section commander showed very great gallantry in action and excellent leadership." The words, 'to date,' meaning until the confirmation of the DCM award in early1918. The wound Jack suffered at Gommecourt obviously only kept him out of the line until September 1916 and the general citation certainly mentions gallantry in action after that, more than likely in the fighting of 1917 and possibly in the final German push of early 1918. The writer is fairly certain that what Cpl Jack did to earn his DCM was during some action during the winter of 1917-18 but the family has no evidence to pinpoint it. The 1st/5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters went on to play a part in the breaching of the famous Hindenburg Line and the final rolling back of the German army leading to The Armistice and Jack was with them all the way. The original notice board bearing the name Tor Top Tunnels and its co-ordinates was secured and brought back from Belgium after the end of the Great War by a Brigadier Goodman who presented it to New Mills Council as a relic to be honoured. It most certainly has been, and because of it so has the original tiny cobbled street of Torr Top. Jack died in 1975 but his son Geoge unveiled a plaque in 2002 to honour not only his father but three more of Jack's childhood friends who lived within a stone's throw of each other. One was another holder of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and two others were holders of the Military Medal. The plaque reads: BRAVO TORR TOP! This part of New Mills is famed forever for giving its name to one of the hottest parts of the battle line in France. In Torr Top Street there is a winner of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and a winner of the Military Medal, whilst in the little street below Torr Top Mission there is another winner of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and another winner of the Military Medal. All honour to Torr Top! Where in England is there another place so small in area which has so distinguished itself in the war? Torr Top should be enshrined in the hearts of New Mills people! Torr Top, above all other places, should be made a place for heroes to live. High Peak Reporter 1919. Corporal John Cooper of Torr Top Street joined the Sherwood Foresters in 1914. He served in France throughout the war. He was both gassed and wounded. Corporal Cooper was awarded the DCM "for Distinguished Conduct in the field". But he had another claim to fame for it was he who gave the name Torr Top to a trench in the Ypres area. The name was printed on a board and appeared on the official Military Map. Following the Armistice, the board, splattered still with the mud of Flanders, was presented to the town. After the War Jack married Louise, a lady he always called 'Louie', and they had two children, a daughter Barbara, and son George, born when Jack was forty. He worked for a time as a cloth printer after his demob and for some thirty years had a window cleaning business. Jack ended his working life as a porter at New Mills railway station and died on May 23rd 1975. In his obituary the High Peak Reporter, after mentioning his DCM and the Tor Top story, summed him up as a man with…"a grand sense of humour - and he had a host of friends." The writer certainly remembers the sense of humour and Jack's abiding interest in sport, in particular the noble art of boxing. Watching Jack watching a boxing match on the TV was entertainment in itself. He would be totally involved, leaning forward on the edge of his chair, shoulders well hunched and fists as well as eyes following every punch while other enthusiasts in the room wisely kept their distance. At such moments one could see beyond the gentle, and always smiling exterior to the consummate soldier moulded by bloody experience and personal tragedy, and yet the humour always won through. ___ This site has benefited many times from excellent contributions from descendants of the men commemorated within it, but rarely have I received such a well researched and written article. My very grateful thanks go to those who who wrote this article: Mike Barton, George Barton (son of Jack) and Jack's grand-daughter Pat and her husband Rod. In particular I must acknowledge Mike for contacting me and being so patinet during a lengthy, if unavoidable delay, in placing this story on the site.