Lieutenant A. John Cox

Lieutenant Alfred John Cox, son of Alfred and Elizabeth Cox, of Winslow, Buckinghamshire, was commissioned to the Royal Armoured Corps in early 1944 before transferring to Airborne service with The Glider Pilot Regiment.

Although unconfirmed, he probably transferred too late to play any part in Airborne actions in 1944, and was probably still in glider training by the end of 1944. He was amongst a party of Glider Pilots en-route to India in December 1944.

Lieutenant Cox died on 5 December 1944, aged 21 years old when Dakota FL588 from 24 Squadron RAF Transport Command, based at RAF Hendon, crashed on a snowy ridge in Ariege, near Mijanes in the Pyrenees, Southern France. 23 Airmen were onboard, 20 of which belonged to the GPR. Fifteen other men onboard died as a result of the crash. He is now buried in the Mazargues War Cemetery, Marseilles.

Profile photograph courtesy of Howard Cox.