Hero Welsh pilot who saved lives when his plane crashed gets new memorial

Martin Shipton

A little-known Welsh hero who saved many lives as he was losing his own has had a new memorial to him unveiled.

RAF Pilot Officer Alex Cohen, 21, from Cardiff, died 70 years ago this week when his aircraft crashed during a training flight near Sheffield.

Aviation security expert Philip Baum, a relative of Alex Cohen, has told the story of how plans to pay tribute to the hero turned into an unexpected family reunion.

Training exercise

In a message posted to LinkedIn, Mr Baum wrote : “Seventy years ago [this week] on May 26 1955, a Gloster Meteor F Mk 8 (WE916), piloted by 21-year-old Pilot Officer John Alexander Cohen (known as Alex to his family), crashed into a field four miles southeast of Sheffield.

“The aircraft, from RAF Worksop, was on a night training exercise when it encountered difficulties descending through cloud cover. Witnesses saw the Meteor flying low before it crashed at 2322 hrs, exploding on impact; the young pilot perished instantly.

“It is thought that, rather than bailing out, Alex had deliberately remained with the aircraft to guide it away from the densely populated residential area, steering it towards a field to minimise civilian casualties. This act of bravery remains part of the local narrative and has earned Alex a place in the community’s memory. Today, on the 70th anniversary, Sheffield City Council, the Royal British Legion and local residents organised a memorial service at the crash site and dedicated a new memorial and bench to his memory.

“I attended this moving service which brought together my professional life (of aviation), my hobby (genealogy) and my family. My involvement commenced when the council started trying to track down Alex’s relatives in order that they be at the ceremony …and eventually found me through a genealogical website. I knew of the story as Alex was my mother’s first cousin! Neither my mother nor any other family we were in touch with were in touch with Alex’s three siblings – all of whom (in their 80s) still live in the Cardiff area, being both my mother’s and Alex’s hometown. I successfully tracked them down.

“Over the last few months, I have had the pleasure of rekindling the relationship with Alex’s siblings, culminating yesterday in their making the trip from Cardiff and gathering in Sheffield, together with their partners and two of their children (and their partners). I also travelled to Sheffield with my mother. Having left Cardiff in the mid-1950s, it was the first time in nearly 70 years that she had met the eldest of these first cousins – an emotional reunion – and the first time she had ever met the other two.

“I thank Sheffield City Council, especially the new Lord Mayor of Sheffield Councillor Safiya Saeed who both spoke so beautifully at the ceremony and unveiled the new memorial with Alex’s siblings. Thanks are also due to Councillor Denise Fox, who chaired today’s proceedings, Alan Walker being the Chair of the Frecheville and District branch of the Royal British Legion (which led the fundraising efforts), and Rev June Fox of St. James Church (part of the Diocese of Sheffield).

“Behind the scenes, over the last six months, I have had the pleasure of communicating with a truly professional and empathetic team at the council whose efforts brought much joy to Alex’s family; thank you Grant Tingle, Courtenay-Elle Crichton-Turley, and my fellow genealogist Victoria Cooper. We brought a family together and remembered a hero.”

Penarth Road

A newspaper report published two weeks after the crash told how a memorial fund to Alex Cohen, who lived in Penarth Road, Cardiff, had been started by residents of a village in Derbyshire near the crash site.

When he lost his life, he had only four months left to serve in the RAF.

He had been one of four wicket-keepers given special coaching by Glamorgan County Cricket Club in the year of his death. He was cricket and rugby captain at his school, St Illtyd’s in Cardiff, and represented Walers secondary schoolboys at cricket.