Alan Bourne

General Sir Alan George Barwys Bourne, (25 July 1882 – 24 June 1967) was a senior officer in the Royal Marines who had a military career spanning well over 40 years, which included service in the two world wars.

Early life and family Alan George Barwys Bourne was born on 25 July 1882, the son of Rev. Charles William Bourne (1846–1927), a teacher and clergyman. In 1875, Bourne's father had married Ada, daughter of J. McMinn. A graduate of St John's College, Cambridge, the elder Bourne served as Head Master of Bedford County School (1875–81), Inverness College (1881–89) and King's College School in Wimbledon (1889–1906). He became a Fellow of King's College, London, in 1897, and, after being ordained a priest in 1899, served in a number of ecclesiastical posts.

In 1911, Bourne married Lilian Mary Poole (died 1958), daughter of Colonel Poole Gabbett, an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps, they had one daughter: who married George Reginald Knox Ord, an officer in The South Wales Borderers and son of G. Knox Ord, in 1940; she married secondly in 1950, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Charles Ries, of the Royal Marines.

Military career Bourne was commissioned into the Royal Marine Artillery as a second lieutenant on 1 September 1899. Promotions to lieutenant and captain followed on 1 July 1900 and 1 September 1910 respectively; he served on the battleship from 1903, then between 1905 and 1906, when he was transferred to the Royal Naval College, Osborne. In 1910, he was aboard HMS Balmoral Castle during the Duke of Connaught's visit to South Africa

Likenesses Sir Alan George Barwys Bourne by Walter Stoneman, April 1945. Bromide print, 5 1/4 in. x 3 3/4 in. (132 mm x 95 mm). Commissioned, 1945. National Portrait Gallery, London: Photographs Collection (NPG x165385).