Cook, James Preston
2391A Private James Preston Cook - 51st Battalion AIF
James Preston Cook was born in Fremantle WA on the 4th March 1889 to James Preston and Fanny Cook. He had several siblings with, George (1886), Percival (1891), Ernest (1894), Alfred (1896) & Ivy (1899).
James grew up in Fremantle and was educated locally. The family lived in Bellevue Terrace Fremantle. After leaving school he took up work as a horse driver and then became a motor lorry driver.
On the 4th December 1912 he married Mary Amelia Harris in Fremantle. They would go on to have four children, James (1914), Ronald (1916), Thelma (1920) and Norma (1920). They lived in West Perth but also Chester Street South Fremantle.
On the 20th March 1916 James enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 5 inches tall;
Weight - 125lbs;
Chest Measurement - 34-36 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Fair.
Upon his successful enlistment James was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.63 Training Depot. He was taken through the basics of infantry work at this depot.
On the 1st May 1916 James was assigned to the 5th Reinforcements to the 51st Battalion AIF. He trained with this group in WA for the next few months.
On the 20th September 1916 James and his group boarded the transport ship HMAT Uganda and set sail for England, reaching Plymouth on the 15th November 1916.
After being disembarked James and his group were marched into the 13th Training Battalion. He only spent a short time in England as on the 12th December 1916 he boarded a transport ship at Folkestone and was shipped across the Channel to France.
After arriving at Etaples, James was sent to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot. He was only there a few days as he was taken on strength of the 51st Battalion on the 23rd December 1916.
The 51st Battalion were then on the Somme battlefield, undergoing what was the coldest French winter in decades.
In April 1917 during an attack at Noreiul, James was wounded when he was blown up by a shell. He suffered severe shell shock and was evacuated to the 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital at Doullens.
On the 5th May James was sent to the Convalescent Depot at Boulogne and he remained there till the 4th June 1917 when he was posted back to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples.
James was given a full medical examination and due to the shell shock he was graded at a low fitness level and was recommended for return to Australia.
On the 25th June 1917 he was sent to England and was posted to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth. He would remain here until he was assigned a ship home.
On the 27th September 1917 James boarded a transport ship Suevic which took him home to Western Australia, reaching Fremantle on the 12th November 1917.
James was discharged from the AIF on the 6th December 1917.
In the 1930's the family was living at Smyth Road Nedlands/Hollywood
Sadly in June 1933 his daughter Thelma died of illness in Perth Hospital aged just 13 years old. A few years later on the 1st January 1937 his son Ronald died, also at Perth Hospital, aged just 21
In 1943 the family were living at Clontarf Road South Fremantle and James was still working as a Motor Driver.
On the 3rd November 1947 his wife Amelia died
James Preston died in Fremantle on the 28th September 1968 aged 79 and is buried in Fremantle Cemetery Plot Anglican Mon A7 0413.