Ken Cooke: the pain, sorrow and sacrifice etched across Ken's face reminds us why we must never forget

Ken Cooke, Normandy veteran: if a picture paints a thousand words then this photograph paints a thousand more. Etched across York's last surviving Normandy veteran is the pain, sorrow and sacrifice of war. We must reassure Mr Cooke that we promise to never, ever forget and that we thank him for everything he and his comrades did for our tomorrows. (photo, Jonathan Gawthorpe)

placeholder image — Ken Cooke, Normandy veteran: if a picture paints a thousand words then this photograph paints a thousand more. Etched across York's last surviving Normandy veteran is the pain, sorrow and sacrifice of war. We must reassure Mr Cooke that we promise to never, ever forget and that we thank him for everything he and his comrades did for our tomorrows. (photo, Jonathan Gawthorpe)

York’s last surviving Normandy veteran, at 101 years of age, is a beacon of inspiration. Yesterday, at the unveiling of the York Normandy Veterans’ Memorial Bench, on the Soldiers’ Lawn inside York Cemetery, the cameras of this newspaper’s photographers trained on Mr Ken Cooke. Quite why he is not a Sir is a bafflement.

The age–old adage that a picture, or a photograph, paints a thousand words was encapsulated in Mr Cooke’s face. A stirring combination of pain, anguish and loss, as well as a visible concern of his, that is well-documented, that future generations may lose contact with the reasons for his visage, yesterday.

Ken’s youthfully exuberant and most wicked sense of humour makes him a firm favourite with children as he indefatigably tours schools, with a smile on his face and laughter in his heart, to gently urge young people to ward off war. But the sadness, loss and respect that we see in his face: lest we forget.

Ken Cooke: the pain, sorrow and sacrifice etched across Ken's face reminds us why we must never forget

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