Sausage Cohen – Four Wars and a lifetime of Crowded Hours

Sos Cohen is another of those men from history and whichever way you look at it his story is pretty remarkable.  “Sos” is an abbreviation of his nickname “Sausage”.   Lionel Frederick William Cohen was born in 1875 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  At the age of about 14 he ran away from home and joined the Royal Marines Light Infantry. (That was his first military engagement.)  Eventually he was tracked down by his horrified family who insisted on buying him out and bringing him home.

His family then sent him to work as a clerk for an uncle in Johannesburg. He was bored by that, ran off, and at the age of 17 became a guard for a mining company.  Seeking adventure he then joined as a volunteer in the campaign against the Matabele, (his first war) with the now historical figures of Selous and Jamieson.  He took part in the Battle of the Shangani River in 1893 where he fought with fixed bayonets.   After other adventures in Africa he then became involved in the Boer War  in 1899 (War Number 2), where he worked as a undercover special force commander in Mozambique preventing arms being delivered to the Boers, reporting via the Mozambique authorities to his British controllers.

When that war ended he returned to civilian life and had more adventures.   When World War 1 (his third war) began he joined the 1st South African Horse as a 2nd Lieutenant.   He fought in German East Africa. At one point he and a single troop captured 430 of the enemy.  After this, now promoted to a “special service” Captain he took his troop behind enemy lines on intelligence missions. In 1916 he was attached to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) as an airborne observer. He was involved in several skirmishes and crashes. In 1917 he formally joined the British Field Intelligence Force, again working behind enemy lines.  He ended the war as a major, with an MC and a DSO  and was mentioned in despatches three times.

By 1937 he was living in England and played a key role in setting up the RAF Volunteer reserve. He was commissioned into the RAF as a Pilot officer in 1939, aged 64. WW2 being his fourth war and at least his fourth service.  He served was a liaison officer from RAF costal command with the Royal Navy.  In this role he flew 70 operational missions as an observer or air gunner.  He reached the rank of Wing Commander and took part in bombing action against the Scharnhorst over the port of Brest in 1941, and other missions that sunk U-boats.  As a senior officer on liaison he was not meant to fly , but insisted on it. He received the DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) in 1944, his 70^th year.  He was mentioned in despatches twice more.  He died in 1960 aged 85.

I have omitted a lot of his adventures outside of the services, which are equally extraordinary. You can read about them in his biography “Crowded hours”