A GALLANT VOLUNTEER

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 76, 23 December 1919, Page 3

A GALLANT VOLUNTEER

AT ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER BOURKE INTERVIEWED Visitirig Wellington at the present time is Lieut.-Coimmindor Kolitnd Bourke, V C U. 5.0., n member of the E.N.V It., wiio',' through sheer peisistence. was a partioipnnt in both the '/eebrugge and Ostend ventures, which put a crown ot deathless glory an the work o the British Navy in the lato war. Iho vis.tor is a man the opposite to robust physically spare of frame, a trifle below medium 'height, and with a slight stoop, and looks out on the world through a pair of Vold-i'iinuied spectacles-appearing rather the student than tho man of action. , Lieut-Commander Bourko was born in London When fifteen years of age he followed his father to the Klondyke, and for four years lived in Dawson City and its vicinitv, gold-mining and prospectwith such little luck and poor prospects that he went to Vancouver, where hfi father died. He then turned his attention to fruit-growing in the Kootenav Lake district, 8.C., in company with a cousin. Strangely enough, the fruitgrowing centre there :s n small town called Nelson, which m*kes a link m nomenclature between British Columbia and New Zealand. When war broke out the nttenlion Licut.-Conimander Bourke was giving to Stunner; and Hibstone Pip-, pins, began to wander, and early in 1915 he found that he was- able to get away and offer his services to his country. He first tried the Cannd-'an Air Service, bul was prompt lv turned down owing to his defective eyes'ght. Then he tried tor the Motor-Launch Service, but found ol the vacancies had been filled. Determined not to be beaten, he left for England, joined up with the R.N.V.TJ., tool; a course of seamanship ami gunnery it I Southampton, and one of navigation al Greenwich College, gained his commission in December, 1.915, and on January 7, 1916, was appointed It ret lieutenant to the motor drifter Violet, based nt Grims-bv-one of the hundreds of little boats Tlu.dvnrd Kipling writes of in his "Fringes of the Fleet." Tho duty of tho motor drifter was mostly to tie up to a buoy, and keep a l.vely lock-nut for any evidence of German U 'boats in the antisubmarine net 3 spread for their tapture The Violet also had a handy 3-pounder anti-aircraft guu for use- in any emergency. After three months of tho Violet, L'eut.-Commander Bourke was promoted to bo lieutenant on an 30ft. motor-launch, based, on Devonport, and a month later was anade commander of II.L. 341, Used on Lor'ne, on tho north-east of Ireland. This launch was on the scene soon after H.M.S. Drake was,torpedoed. The warship was towed into linfflin Sound with a bad list, and afterwards fnnk in 50ft. of -water. No. 3« did "jrcod negative work" on. this section. Tli.it is to fjny, that while she was controlling i:nd patrolling a considerable stretch of coast and the northern end. of' the Irish Channel, no steamers were sunk, although tho enemy submarines were active in the Irish Sea, and mine-laying cubmiu-iaes did their worst in Belfast Lough After three months at Lome, Lieut.-Comman-der "Boniko transferred by exchange to Dover—the real active service base for small craft—and was _thero appointed commander of ALL. 27G. In April, 191S, tho raid on Zrobrngge came off. For that job two classes of volunteers ,wcro needed. From the Navy 1600 volunteers wore called for, and within ii hours there were ,'IMO volunteers for the block ships and landing parties. .Motor-launches were required to bring off the crews after thev bail finished their job. Lieut-Commander Bourke endeavoured to get in, but again his eyes'ght stood in his way, and he suggested that he should be allowed to participate on a stand-by motor-launch. All will remember how tho Vindictive, Iris, and Daffodil, under a heavy smoke screen, dashed into Zce'brugge under a hail of fire; how the block ships, filled with concrete, were fnnk in l,h» harbour, and the Vindictive brought hack the remnants of their crews. Simultaneously an attempt was made to raid Ostend, but owing to a guiding bucy having been removed, and a change of wind the enemy smoke screen, the und'Sirius both went ashore under heavy fire. The motor-launch detailed to take the crew of the Brilliant off (after she was sunk in the harbour) dashed in to pick up the crew, but wn« disabled by shell fire, and Lieuf.-C'omriiander Bourke get his' chance. He ran in, picked up the Brilliant's crew, and towixl the disabled launch to Dunkirk The Brilliant was undej' heavy shell fire, which, fortunately, VMB comparatively inaccurate. Commander Godsall was the last to leave the Brilliant, and for his gallantry was given command of the Vindictive on (he ■ occasion of tho second raid.

That took place just thres wepks later, to be precise on Hay 10,1918. Just when the London ppe rs wcro ask" l ;,' that the Vindictive should be exhibited in the Thames .as another Victory, she was receiving a cargo of concrete consigned to Ostend. The Germans afterwards stated that no concrete was found in the Vindictive, but Commander Bourke personally saw bags being filled with concrete and placcl in tho warship. That it was an effective bloc.k was proved after the German evacuation, for the enemy had been unable to shift ;.ny of the sunken block sh'ns. The second raid on Ostend was made under a heavy

smoke screen. The Vindictive arrived at her buoy on time—the wholo operation was time-tabled—but the Sappho bioko down. Sho got within half a.nr'le of tho piers in smoke and fog. and under a barrage, but could not locate the piers and had to manoeuvre for about forty j minutes. Then motor-launch 254, Commander Drurnniond, found the piers and let. go a Drive'' flare (which is ecpial to a m'llion candle power, and has a light radius of four miles). The flare lit up the channel, and tho Vindictive, at top speed, made for the cntmncc. The fire was so heavy that' Godsall and his officers had to retire from the- bridge to the armoured conn'ng tow.>r. On getting inside the harbour he caret! out of the tower, and n shell burst aeri'rist it, killing him on the snot—in the moment of his success. Lieut. Cnitchley tcok over command, and finding the vessel aground forward, rnlcrcd th" sinkinir cbarge.i to be -fired. Dnimmond's launch—the commander wounded in three places, his lieutenant killed, and smio nf tho seamen wounded—dashed in and got alongside the Vindictive and took her.creiv off, and after searching the linking ship fnr any survivors, pushed oil' and proceeded lo sea. Drummond got h's V.C. His chief mechanic, named Pulsford, belongs to Wellington. As a stand-by, Comma mW Bourke got in close enough to piny upon the enemy tin tho piers with Levin gum-v-iind his Siib-LiculeiKint IV.ric blew the glas," out of the l'ghthmises nf the puds of the piers, and was .given Ihn D.S.O. for Ms daring. As Driiimnmiil came out, Bourke went inside shouting to 254 «s V !

hlici passed to soe if Ijiey hud picked up 1 all the survivors. But tho noise was m> great that no answer was heard, eo Bourke decided to rorry on. and went slowly into the harbour. Tho engines we.ro stooped whilst ther shouted for any possible survivors. Oner they fancied that n cry was heard, but en pecond thoughts fancied it might. b» Englishspeaking linns shouting in order to detain them with the idea of wiping them nut. A s'x-inoh shell had pafsed through the dinghy, and bullets wer« hitting tho launch continuously, but flic smoke «-ns ton dense for anyone to ss» anything much. They were about ten minutes, and were tuning rouud to go out again, when. they picked up an officer and two men of Ihn Vindictive, al) wounded, clinging to the bottom of an upturned skiff, ft was thi'ii a case of full speed ahead through tho moles and out to sea. For Hint night's work .! ieut.Commander Bourke was givn the V.C. On his return to British Co'.unibM. Lieut.-Conimander Bourke was feted, and at Nelson was present'/! with an ilhim'nnted address. On Hominy anil Tuesday next he will lecture on the two miito, illustrating them with 14fl slides (which vr'Jl "tive a splendid idea of Iho ports raided, and how the operations wore carried ■:>ut), also picturey of the types of vpagois and men employed ,in ths "stunts."