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Name: COOPER, Michael Hadley Frederick
Photo Source: William Cherry for sportsman
Nee: son of Archibald Maynard Cooper, bro of Neville Maynard Charles Cooper
Birth Date: 7 Mar 1922 Nakuru
Death Date: 30 Nov 1998 Hillingdon
Profession: Agricultural Officer, Tanganyika 1952
Married: In Oxford 2 Nov 1944 Kathleen 'Kitty' L. Lloyd b. 1922 Headington, Oxford
Children: Hadley Stephen Maynard (19 Jan 1946 Oxford); nCharles Michael Cooper (23 Dec 1851 Nakuru); Marijane (26 Apr 1953 Mbulu, Tanganyika)
Book Reference: Colonial
School: Prince of Wales School Nairobi and Natal University
General Information:
He ran away from school when war broke out in 1939 and enrolled in the Kenya Regiment but was smartly bailed out by his father, using the influence of a General who was a family friend. Made to return to school and take the Oxford and Cambridge matriculation exam. In September 1940 he joined the RAF in Nairobi as a trainee pilot and early in 1941 was sent by boat and train to Rhodesia for training in the Empire Air Training School. He got his wings in late 1941 and then went to England and was trained as a night fighter at Kidlington. Eyesight not good enough for night flight, so transferred to day fighters. Engine failure so bailed out over France - evaded capture