HERO OF OSTEND.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15978, 21 November 1919, Page 8

HERO OF OSTEND.

LIEUT.-COMMANDER BOURKE. RESCUES UNDER HEAYY FIEE. GOOD WORK IN MOTOR-BOAT. One of the outstanding figures in the second blocking operations against Ostend on the night of May 9th and the early morning of May 10, 1918, is Lieut.Commander Ronald Bourke, Y.C., D.S.O. E.N.Y.R., a Canadian who recently arrived by the Makura Lieut.-Commander Bourke was on active service for three years with the R.N.Y.R., and for a year prior to the armistice was in charge of a submarine chaser at Dover. His D.S.O. was awarded for the rescue of 38 officers and men from H.M.S. Brilliant during the blocking operations against Ostend on April 23, 1917. The Victoria Cross was ; gained in the second and successful attempt to block the entrance to Ostend, the motor boats, one of which Lieut.-Commander Bourke commanded, assisted to cover and screen the approach of the Vindictive, leading her to her objective, and rescuing the survivors of her crew after she had been blown up between the piers of Ostend harbour. The account of these operations was supplied in a despatch from Vice-Ad-miral Sir Roger J. E. Keyes, commanding the Dover Patrol. Lieut.-Commander Bourke volunteered with his motor launch for rescue work, and as the Vindictive entered Ostend engaged with Lewis guns the German machine guns on both piers. He then laid his vessel alongside the Vindictive to make search, and finding no one, he withdrew, but hearing cries in the water he again entered the harbour, and after a prolonged search found and rescued Lieutenant Sir John M. Alleyne, D.S.C., R.N., and two ratings, all badly wounded and clinging to a skiff. The motor launch during the whole of this time was under a , very heavy close-range fire, and was hit in no fewer than 55 places—one by a six-inch shell. Two of her crew were killed, and others wounded, and she herself was seriously damaged, and her speed greatly reduced. It spoke well for Lieut.-Com-mander Bourke’s indomitable pluck and his seamanship that he managed to bring his shattered launch out of Ostend harbour. His bracery and perseverance it was recorded, undoubtedly saved the lives of Lieut. Alleyne and two of the Vindictive’s crew. Lieut.-Commander Bourke in private life is a fruit farmer in British Columbia and with Mrs Bourke is paying an extended visit to New Zealand. He intends looking into the possibilities of the Dominion fruit industry, and will probably visit Australia later.