[1] He spent time in Townsville, Cape York and other parts of northern Australia joining the Australian Army during World War II, service number VX88344[2] between August 1941-July 1946.
After the war, he enrolled in Art School at Swinburne University of Technology and later travelled to New Guinea, Tahiti and Fiji.
[6] During the sixties, the Crooks lived in Sydney and Melbourne, making regular trips to Thursday Island, New Guinea, Cape York and Fiji.
For Crooke, the Johnstone Gallery was pivotal to his success, beginning with his first solo exhibition there in 1960, and continuing, largely unabated, ever since.
His Island Journal [4] is dedicated "to the memory of Brian and Marjorie Johnstone", an indication of their influence on his life as an artist.