Private Harold William Cooper was born in Merton, Surrey, England, on June 4, 1896, to parents John and Annie Cooper. Prior to enlistment the Cooper family was living in Moosomin, Saskatchewan.

Cooper enlisted with the 10th Canadian Mounted Rifles at Moosomin, Sask., on December 18, 1914. In May 1916 he proceeded to England with the 10th C.M.R. aboard the SS Olympic, and then in September to France where he joined the Canadian Corps Cavalry Regiment (redesignated the Canadian Light Horse in February 1917).

After several months spent in England recovering from gas poisoning, Cooper returned to France in the spring of 1918 where he joined the Fort Garry Horse. He was killed on October 9, 1918, when he was hit by machine gun fire in action near Le Cateau, France. In the final weeks of the war, following Cooper’s burial, the front lines shifted, and his grave site and remains were lost. Cooper is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France.

Harold Cooper’s younger brother Private Sidney Frank Cooper also served in WWI with the 10th Canadian Mounted Rifles.

Content notes:
The collection’s only photo is of Pte. Harold Cooper in Service Dress uniform.

External links:
Private Harold Cooper’s service record (Serv/Reg# 115056) can be viewed/downloaded in pdf format through Library and Archives Canada.
WWI Circumstances of Death Registers record card (page #597), Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Cooper can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.