Thomas Haller Cooper

Thomas Haller Cooper
British mugshot, 1945
Born	(1919-08-29)29 August 1919 Chiswick, London, England, United Kingdom
Died	1987 (aged 67) England, United Kingdom
Other names	Tom Böttcher
Occupation	Activist, Member of British Free Corps

Thomas Haller Cooper, (29 August 1919 – 1987), also known as Tom Böttcher, was a member of the German Waffen-SS British Free Corps and former member of the British Union of Fascists.

Thomas Cooper was born in Chiswick to a British father, Ashley Cooper, and a German mother Anna Maria, née Simon. His father was a photographer and commercial artist who had met Thomas' mother in Berlin.

Cooper attended Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, and upon leaving in 1936 attempted to find work. He was rejected by the Metropolitan Police, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force; on each occasion the reason given was that he had a German mother. Extremely resentful of his treatment, Cooper joined the British Union of Fascists in September 1938.

A fluent German-speaker, Cooper contacted the German Academic Exchange Organisation in Russell Square, London. After a short period, he was offered a place at the RAD (Reichs Arbeits Dienst or German Labour Service) office in Stuttgart, during summer 1939.

Caught in Germany at the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, Cooper was arrested as an enemy alien. However, he was released after producing a certificate that his mother had obtained, classifying him as an ethnic German (a Volksdeutscher).

Cooper was offered an opportunity to join the SS, which he eventually accepted. He was ordered to return on 1 February 1940 at the Berlin Lichterfelde Barracks, the home of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. While at this camp, Cooper told his superiors that his father was now serving with British forces, and that he thought it was no longer appropriate to be serving with the SS. After being placed under arrest, Cooper reconsidered his position. He announced that he had decided to continue serving in the SS.