How a source network recovered Dickie Cork's life

The biography began with the concern that Richard 'Dickie' Cork's life had received only scattered articles and brief references. Producing a full account required a major research effort supported by veterans, relatives, defence organizations, schools, newspapers, and overseas institutions. The acknowledgements show how naval biography can depend on a broad network when no single archive holds the story. The absence of the National Archives from the credited institutions is useful evidence that personal testimony and dispersed collections supplied much of the material.