Died after falling down into the ships hold at Bilbao. The captain wrote to Cockerill's parents and expressed his sadness at their loss. He wrote "Yesterday, at 7.30 in the morning as we were preparing for sea the lad fell down one of the holds. The chief mate and myself immediately went to his aid. We found him unconscious, with a serious injury to the back of his head. The doctor said it was a bad case, and that he would need to go to hospital, but the lad passed away before we could reach it"(this was at 9.30am). He also added that Cockerill could have suffered no pain, as he was unconscious from the time of his fall to his death.

He was mentioned in the Scarborough Mercury (Filey News) on 11th January 1918.