Theodore Charles Hook was born in South Africa in 1889, the son of Charles William Frederick Hook of Wells, Norfolk, and Susanna Hook of Natal.
He attested for the 2nd South African Infantry (S.A.I.) at Potchefstroom on 19 August 1915 and was wounded in action at Mersa Matruh on 23 January 1916.
Disembarked at Marseilles on 20 April 1916, he suffered from ulcers and boils in the early summer of 1916 and was discharged to duty on the Western Front on 4 July 1916, joining the Regiment in the opening days of the Battle of the Somme.
Hook survived the bitter fighting around Delville Wood and was later recommended for the Military Medal (MM) on 18 October 1916 published in the London Gazette 22 January 1917.
The original recommendation by Lieutenant-Colonel E. Christian, 2nd S.A.I., states:
‘In the attack on the Warlencourt Line on the afternoon of 12th October this man and another were the only two men unhit of A Company’s two Lewis Gun Teams. Private Hook picked up one undamaged Lewis Gun and continued to advance under very heavy fire. When the advance was brought to a standstill he placed his gun in a shell hole, collected several drums of ammunition and proceeded to dig himself in. By 8pm the gun was in a good emplacement and Private Hook had collected 40 drums of ammunition under a very heavy fire. During the night he, with the help of several men he had collected and directed, improved the gun emplacement into a very excellent strong point. His conduct in previous actions has always been excellent.’
Remaining on the Western Front, he was killed in action on 9 April 1917. Aged 28 years, he is buried at Pont-Du-Jour Military Cemetery, Athies, France.
