- See Edward James Trist Cocks’s entry on the Board of Trade’s Ancestry public tree.
- This information updates the group’s previous research published on the former DTI website (now archived by the National Archives).
- Do you have any more information about Edward James Trist Cocks? If so the War Memorial Research Group would love to hear from you.
Name recorded on Board of Trade Memorial: E. J. T. Cocks
Born: October 1894 in Stoke Damerel, Devon
Date of Death: 5 August 1918
Age at death: 23
Service, Regiment, Corps, etc: Gloucestershire Regiment and then given commission into Worcestershire Regiment
Unit, Ship, etc: 12th Battalion and then 4th (or 5th) Battalion
Enlisted:
Rank: Private and then Second Lieutenant (Service No: 14026)
Decorations: British WW1 Service Medals (British War Medal and Victory Medal and eligible for 1914-15 Star)
War (and theatre): WW1 (France and Flanders)
Manner of Death: Killed in Action (KIA)
Family Details: Son of Henry W and Eliza J Cocks of Plymouth
Residence: Westminster
Home Department: Board of Trade – Labour Department (South Western Division)
Civilian Rank:
Cemetery or Memorial: Borre British Cemetery, Nord (II.F.23); Board of Trade War Memorial; Memorial to Staff of the Ministry of Labour; Royal Fusiliers War Memorial; London Troops Memorial;
Biography:
Edward James Trist Cocks was born in 1894 in Stoke Damerel in Devon. His parents were Henry Walter Walker Cocks (1864-1937) and Eliza Jane Nicholls (1861-1951). He had three siblings – a brother Henry or Harry Cocks (1889-1970) and two sisters – Vera Cocks (1894-1975) and Minesta (Nita) Cocks (1896-1973).
In the 1901 census, Edward is recorded living at 18 Craven Avenue, Plymouth together mother and brother and sisters. His father served in the Royal Navy from 1880 until 1919. At the time of the 1901 census he was serving overseas with the Navy and was away at sea. He appears on 1901 census record listed as a member of the crew based at Great Bitter Lake on the Suez Canal in Egypt.
By the 1911 census, when Edward is 17 years old, he has moved to live in lodgings in Hammersmith, London.
We also know that he Edward worked for one of the Labour Exchanges in the South West as part of the Board of Trade.
During WW1, Edward enlisted initially as a Private in the 12th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment. This was a pals battalion (also known as Bristol’s Own) formed as part of Lord Kitchener’s call to arms in 1914. He was typical of the men recruited from the “mercantile and professional” classes. He was later awarded a commission to become an officer and served as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment.
Edward died on 5 August 1918 when the 4th Battalion were actively fighting in the Lys Valley and is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Borre British Cemetery about 3 kilometres east of Hazebrouck. The cemetery was used between May and September 1918 and now contains 367 WW1 graves and 3 German graves. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
It is mentioned in his Commonwealth War Grave Commission burial entry that Edward was mentioned in dispatches, which meant that a senior officer specifically named him for his gallant action on the battlefield in an official report. The personal inscription on his grave, chosen by his parents is “Thy Will be Done”.
Board of Trade War Memorial 