Margaret Brooke

Margaret Brooke (April 10, 1915 – January 9, 2016), served as a nursing sister during the Second World War rising to the rank of lieutenant commander in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Following the war, she earned a bachelor's degree and then a PhD in paleontology, serving as an instructor and researcher at the University of Saskatchewan's Department of Geological Sciences. Biography Early life and naval service Margaret Brooke was born in Ardath, Saskatchewan, and at the age of 18 enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan where she earned a BHSC degree in household science in 1935. She enlisted in the RCN in March 1942 as a nursing sister dietician and given the rank of sub-lieutenant. Nursing sisters were trained civilian nurses who fulfilled the Canadian military's need for nurses. They were given enlisted ranks, with the RCN creating their own nursing force in 1941. Brooke was enrolled at in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and served in several naval hospitals across the country. Brooke was stationed in St. John's, Newfoundland, and was taking the ferry "that regularly crossed Cabot Strait from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland" on October 14, 1942. While off the coast of Newfoundland, the ship was torpedoed by the and sank in minutes. While fighting for her own survival, she attempted to save the life of her friend, Nursing Sister Sub-Lieutenant Agnes Wilkie, both of them clinging to ropes attached to a capsized lifeboat. Despite Brooke's efforts, Wilkie succumbed to the elements. Brooke and the other survivors of the Caribou were in the water for two hours before an RCN ship returned to pick them up. Wilkie was the only nursing sister to die from enemy action during the war. For her actions during the sinking of Caribou she was named as a Member of the Order of the British Empire on January 1, 1943. Following the war, she continued to serve in the RCN rising to the rank of lieutenant commander prior to her retirement in 1962.