| Paul Cooke | |
| Birth Date: | 18 December 1916 |
| Birth Place: | Marylebone, England |
| Death Place: | Flanders, Belgium |
| University: | University of Oxford |
| Position: | Scrum-half |
| Repyears1: | 1939 |
| Repcaps1: | 2 |
| Reppoints1: | 0 |
Second Lieutenant Paul Cooke (18 December 1916 – 28 May 1940) was an English international rugby union player.[1]
Born in Marylebone, Cooke attained an honours degree in law at the University of Oxford, where he was a rugby blue. He represented Buckinghamshire in county fixtures and had just starting playing with London club Richmond when he gained an England call up for the 1939 Home Nations.[2] For his two caps, Cooke formed a halfback partnership with Gus Walker, playing matches against Wales and Ireland, both at Twickenham.[3]
Cooke volunteered for Army service in November, 1939. He served as a Second Lieutenant with the 1st Battalion, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry. On 28 May 1940, with Belgium on the brink of falling, Cooke was killed while directing fire for a Bren gun section in Flanders, as they were retreating to the coast.[4]