Captain A. R. Cooper died at his home on 1st April 1988 at the age of eighty-nine, surrounded by his family.

It was the dearest wish of his wife Doris that a suitable memorial should be found to honour her husband, a hero in two world wars, holder of thirteen medals and decorations. A man loved, respected and remembered by his peers to the point that seventeen of them had mentioned him in their memoires. Two of his medals were the French, Croix de Guerre. It was understood the first of these, a personal award, was won shortly after its instigation by sixteen year old Dick Cooper, a British subject.

In 1996 at the age of eighty-one, Doris went to join her family in the village of Brookland where she was to spend the rest of her days. It was two or three years later that the local Parish Council advertised in the Kentish Express for people to come forward with ideas for the use of a piece of badly neglected waste land, next to the village church,. There were no replies! Only then did Doris herself write to the Parish Council suggesting that her family provide a memorial garden at their own expense, including all future costs of the upkeep in both time and money.

The above proposal was welcomed by the Parish Council in writing and for the next few months the family worked numerous hours clearing the ground, renewing the fences, planting roses and providing seats and a memorial stone. A dedication service was planned with the help of the Parish Councillors, the Reverend Sharon Ireland (the local vicar), local people, the Royal British Legion and all the family, right down to the youngest great-grandchild who was delighted when her photograph appeared in the local paper.

A celebration of the life of this truly amazing man followed by a dedication service was held at St Augustine’s Church in Brookland, on 5th May 2001. Extra plants had been dedicated to the project by Dick’s former colleagues including a Rosa Rugosa from the Special Forces Club representing S.O.E. Former secret agent, Lieutenant Paddy Davies R.N.R. attached a card to his donated plant which read, ‘To a very intrepid and gallant soldier and endearing companion.’

Doris was thrilled, if a little overwhelmed, by the huge attendance for the event and later chatted happily with The Rt. Hon Michael Howard MP, Captain Geoffrey Arnold S.O.E., Major Denis Newman S.O.E., Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Van Maurik S.O.E., Councillor Shirley Newlands the Chairman of Shepway District Council, Kent County Councillor Fred Wood-Brignall, Shepway Councillor John Paine, Parish Council Chairman Mrs. Jackie Wakelin together with the council members, friends and family.

In the days that followed the memorial garden was well used, visitors to the famous church of St Augustine would take time out to enjoy their sandwiches in the peaceful rose garden. On several occasions local people with a terminal diagnosis would sit in the garden to reflect, just as their loved ones would do in the days and months to follow.

Dick Cooper’s son in law with the help of the family, worked tirelessly on the garden for fourteen years, replacing all the roses on two occasions due to the lack of topsoil in the area. The Council arranged the grass cutting but the strimming, pruning, hedge cutting, tree cutting and memorial stone washing etc. was all undertaken by the family.

In 2006 Doris left us to find her husband of 57 years, happy in the knowledge that the family were committed to the care of the garden.

Sadly, in 2014 the sitting Parish Council decided to reclaim use of a section of the Dick Cooper Memorial Garden for the burial of cremated remains. As this required the removal of benches and flower beds together with the renaming of the garden to The Brookland Memorial Garden, the family were sadly forced to withdraw from the project.

Although the Parish Council had suggested they would continue to maintain the garden sadly, today in October 2020, it is in a very sad state. Thankfully they have continued to cut the grass and trim the hedges but the nettles and thistles thrive while the floribunda roses straggle their unruly way ever upwards. Lest we forget!

NOTE: The land used for the memorial garden was previously unregistered having been a dyke filled in by a local farmer. Because this small area lay between the Church and the Cemetery it was a question of riparian ownership (to the middle of the dyke.) Since 2014 the local council successfully laid claim the whole area. However Kent County Council do own a drainage pipe running below ground level.