Rowland Richard Louis Bourke VC DSO (1885 – 1958)

Rowland Bourke was born in Kensington, Middlesex, England to parents Isadore McWilliam Bourke MD and his second wife Marianna Carozzi. Rowland finished his formal education in England and then, in 1902, followed his family to live with them in Dawson. He tried to enlist for service in the Canadian military at the outbreak of the First World War but was rejected due to his poor eyesight. He returned to England and successfully joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant and served on motor launches. He saved thirty-eight sailors and towed a crippled ship out of the Belgian harbour of Zeebrugge-Ostend on 23 April 1918. He was appointed Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. He rescued another officer and two seamen three weeks later at Osend. He was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), gazetted in London on 27 August 1918. He was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honour by the French Government and promoted to Lieutenant-Commander. He returned to Canada after the war and married Rosalind “Linda” Barnet, an accomplished musician. By 1931 Rowland’s eyesight had severely deteriorated. He quite farming and took a Federal Civil Service post at Esquimalt. During the Second World War he organized a Fishermen's Naval Reserve that patrolled the west coast and served as a recruiting officer. He returned to sea in 1941 with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. He was the commander of the training ship HMCS Givenchy, HMCS Esquimalt, and HMCS Burrard, Vancouver. He ended his naval career in 1950. In 1953 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. Mount Bourke located southwest of Megin Lake and northeast of Hot Springs Cove, north of Tofino, British Columbia is named for Commander Rowland Bourke.¹⁾