Roland Richard Louis Bourke, VC, DSO (1885 – 1958) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Bourke was born in London, England and emigrated to Canada. He returned to the UK on the outbreak of World War I to enlist in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

[edit] Action

He was 32 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the First World War when the following deed took place in the Second Ostend Raid for which he was awarded the VC.

On 9 and 10 May 1918 at Ostend, Belgium, after HMS Vindictive's crew had been taken off, Lieutenant Bourke, commanding Motor Launch 276 went into the harbour to check that everybody had got away. After searching and finding no one, he withdrew, but hearing cries from the water he turned back, found an officer and two seamen clinging to an up-turned boat, and rescued them. During this time the motor launch was under very heavy fire and was hit 55 times, once by a 6-inch shell which killed two of her crew and did considerable damage. Lieutenant Bourke, however, managed to take her into the open sea, and was taken in tow.

He later achieved the rank of lieutenant-commander. Grave/memorial at Buried at Royal Oak Burial Park, Falaise Drive, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Section O. Plot 10. Grave 16. Headstone.

[edit] References

• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• VCs of the First World War - The Naval VCs (Stephen Snelling, 2002)

[edit] External links

• Article on Richard Bourke