Lieutenant Colonel Martin Yeats Cooke - late Royal Marines - Funeral Stream Details Added

Born in 1950, Martin was educated at Barnsley Holgate Grammar School and Queen’s University Belfast - from which he failed to graduate having succumbed to the distractions of alcohol and girls! However forty three years later, he achieved a Distinguished MA in Applied Strategy and International Security!

Martin was Commissioned in 1972 and joined 41 Commando in Malta. Three years later, he was surprised to be told he would be seconded to SAF , would not need to attend an Arabic course and despatched in something of a hurry in September 1975.

Martin joined the Frontier Force (FF) as it was concentrating at Raysut prior to the commencement of post monsoon operations. He became the battalion intelligence officer which, because intelligence on the Adoo had been almost entirely lacking, FF had not had before; Martin learned on the job.

Following MR's successful occupation of the Capstan plateau below Sarfait, FF's mission for Operation Hadaf during October and November 1975 became the capture of the Sherishitti Caves. This was the decisive operation that prefaced the end of the Dhofar conflict

Because of the SAM 7 threat to helicopters and the priority needs of MR at Sarfait, resupply to the four deployed rifle companies was by truck. Tracks had to be pushed through very rough terrain for this to occur and mines had been laid haphazardly along most existing tracks.

Martin was tasked with route finding and & with a small group of soldiers, protecting a huge yellow painted bulldozer driven by an indomitable Sapper - SSgt Jock Gillan.

"It was a very noisy and highly visible machine and Jock Gillan was sitting in an open cab about 10 feet off the ground. It was so noisy that Jock couldn’t hear anything else and didn’t notice if we came under fire – I had to jump on to the back of the bulldozer and shake him by the shoulder to get him to take cover. On the plus side, the machine was so huge it really didn’t notice anti-personnel mines. Anti-tank mines didn’t give it much trouble either, they didn’t break the tracks and all Jock noticed was a slight bump. Together with Jock and the bulldozer we cut tracks behind all the company advances over several days ending up above the Sherishitti caves where A Company was being subject to 75mm RCL Fire. That was an interesting time, particularly when I had to patch up a casualty whose lower jaw had been blown off!"

After HM Sultan Qaboos's declaration that Dhofar was "Secure for Civil Development" on 2 December 1975, Martin remarked: "That was it , we redeployed back to barracks in Raysut. The war was declared won – the only war that I’m aware of that was actually over by Christmas! "

During the following twelve months, Martin was the second in command of both A and B companies as operations to eliminate the remaining small groups of Adoo continued. Martin transferred to WFR on promotion to Major and commanded a rifle company at Habrut. He returned to the UK in July 1977, and on joining 45 Commando at Arbroath, reverted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Martin served in 45 Commando for five years including two emergency tours in West Belfast and the Falklands war during which he was the Commando Signals Officer , Of that time, former NFR member Brig Ian Gardiner said of Martin "Although we were not close, he was certainly a very dependable and resilient officer".

Martin attended the Canadian Armed Forces Command and Staff College 1983-84, following which, he undertook numerous training roles, operational and non-operation staff appointments in MOD, Royal Marines Operational Headquarters and Commodore Amphibious Warfare. He commanded Royal Marines Tyne for two years before commanding Forward Operating Base, Basra, Iraq for six months in 2003-4 as part of the futile effort to discover Weapons of Mass Destruction. He then became the Senior Operations Planning Officer at the UN Military Headquarters in Liberia between May & November 2004.

After completing various studies into Reserve Forces, Martin retired in September 2009 having completed forty years of service. Shortly before he died, Martin said that his time in SAF  was a seminal part of his career and life.

Martin is survived by his second wife Bernadette and his sons Joseph and Samuel from his first marriage, both of whom have accompanied Martin at SAF Association dinners.

(Peter Isaacs)

Funeral Arrangements

Martin's funeral will be on 2 May 2025 at noon at the Park Crematoria in Plymouth. The Park - Plymouth Cemeteries & Crematorium.

There will be a reception afterwards at the Corinthian on Plymouth Hoe. The Corinthian - Plymouth Events & Function Suite on the water’s edge.

Please let Bernadette know if you are planning to attend to assist her with planning arrangements - bernadette.99@hotmail.co.uk

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