A Toronto veteran who survived the Second World War fought an unsuccessful battle this summer against four robbers.
Edwin Cooke, known as "Cookie," was at home in his Toronto apartment back in August when a man came to his door.
"He said he was going to come in the apartment. I said, 'No you are not,'" Cooke, 88, told CTV Toronto on Thursday. "I grabbed him and slammed him up against this wall -- then the boys came up here."
Four thieves handcuffed Cooke, gagged him and threw him in a chair. They went through his apartment and stole numerous items worth an estimated $4,600.
"They stole my wallet … my identity -- they stole a bloody lot," he said.
Among the missing items are three flutes. Cooke would take the flutes on visits to his wife's grave and play them there.
For Cooke, the material goods can be replaced. What really hurts him in the loss of his dignity.
One thing the robbers didn't take was a medal from his military days. It reads, "Bravery in the field." He also received a note from King George himself.
Cooke had been fighting with the British Army at the Battle of Two Tree Hill in Tunisia in 1943. He is credited with saving the life of an officer.
"I had to carry him for about four miles," Cooke said of the bleeding, wounded man.
But he doesn't make a big deal about that act of heroism -- or the robbery. "It happens. Worse things have happened to people," he said.
Cooke said police have yet to make any arrests in connection with his robbery.
Following a conversation with his insurance company representatives on Thursday, Cooke said it looks promising that he will be compensated for some of his losses.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Naomi Parness
