Arthur Charles Cochrane

Arthur Charles “Cocky” Cochrane was a Canadian fighter pilot, born at Vernon, British Columbia, on 27 April 1919 and educated at Vernon High School before joining the Royal Air Force, completing his flying training in England during 1939 and 1940. He served first with No. 263 Squadron and then with No. 257 Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricanes through the Battle of Britain, in which he was credited with several victories and emerged as a fighter ace; Cuthbert Orde drew his portrait in September 1940 as part of the Air Ministry’s record of Fighter Command pilots. By 1942 he had become a flight commander on No. 87 Squadron, which he took to North Africa, continuing to fly Hurricanes over Tunisia during the closing stages of the Tunisian campaign. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (London Gazette, late March 1943) in recognition of his operational record. Cochrane was killed on 31 March 1943, aged 24, when he failed to return from a patrol and was shot down over the Tunisian coast, only days after the announcement of his decoration. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Malta Memorial. (Note: the sources consulted consistently record his decoration as the DFC rather than the DSO.)