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In memory of Leading Aircraftman Joseph Leo Coen, RAF, service number 1272455, goalkeeper for Clydebank, Celtic and Luton Town.  On the outbreak of war LAC Coen joined the RAF reserve and trained to be a fighter pilot.  On 15th October 1941, in a training exercise at RAF Cranham in Lincolnshire, he was killed in a mid-air collision when the Airspeed Oxford he was flying crashed into another Oxford half a mile west of the airfield.  He was 30.

In memory of Sergeant Thomas Cooper, 9th Battalion The King's Regiment (Liverpool), service number 3772530, right-back for Port Vale, Derby County, Liverpool and England.  Regarded as one of the greatest fullbacks of his time, Sergeant Cooper made his name when Derby bought him for £2,500 in March 1926.  They were promoted in the same season, and became First Division stalwarts in the years that followed, finishing second in the title race behind Sheffield Wednesday in 1930.  A tough tackler with skilful passing to match, Cooper received his first England cap in 1927, and captained the national team in his last two appearances.  However, knee injuries kept him from pursuing his international career beyond fifteen caps, and by the time war broke out, his career was essentially at an end.  On the 25th of June 1940 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, Sergeant Cooper - then serving with the Royal Military Police - was killed when his motorcycle collided with a double-decker bus.  He was 36.  As Cooper was not wearing a crash helmet at the time of the accident, the subsequent inquiry made it mandatory for all dispatch riders to wear helmets.  He is buried at Nottingham Road Cemetery, Derby.

In memory of Fusilier Haydn Vernon Dackins, 6th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, service number 3973004, forward for Swansea Town, Port Vale, Northwich Victoria and Macclesfield Town.  A journeyman player and occasional goalscorer, Fusilier Dackins was killed during the Allied invasion of Sicily on 2nd August 1943, aged 31.  He is buried at Catania War Cemetery in Sicily.

In memory of Private Thomas Oysten Farrage, 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment, service number 138613, outside-left for Walker Celtic and Birmingham City.  Described as a "promising young player with an eye for goal", Private Farrage joined Blues in November 1937 at the age of 20, and made his debut the following September, scoring three goals in ten appearances before the outbreak of war.  He continued to play in the wartime leagues while serving in the Royal Army Signal Corps during the early part of the conflict, but in May 1943 commenced training as a paratrooper.  During Operation Market Garden he parachuted into the Netherlands with D Company 10th Battalion, and on the 19th of September 1944 was struck by German machine-gun fire during the Battle of Arnhem, dying of wounds to the spine.  Buried by his comrades, his grave was unmarked and he is now commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial.

In memory of Flying Officer David Hendry Fenner, RAF 98 Squadron, service number 179037, outside-left for Kilsyth Rangers, Airdrieonians and Stenhousemuir.  Breaking into the professional game only a year before the war began, Fenner's 1938-39 season yielded a promising 14 goals in 21 appearances, but the commencement of hostilities cut his career short and reduced him to amateur appearances for Stenhousemuir and Manchester United in the wartime leagues.  As the liberation of Europe progressed, 98 Squadron were flying army co-operation sorties behind enemy lines, knocking out strongpoints, bombing tanks and hitting railheads.  On the night of 25th February 1945 his B-25 Mitchell bomber was seen flying into a thick cloud over Eethen in the Netherlands, and it never emerged.  He was 31.

More to follow.