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 volunteered for the RCN in March 1942 as a nursing sister dietician and was commissioned to the rank of sub-lieutenant. Nursing sisters were trained civilian nurses who fulfilled the Canadian military's need for nurses. The RCN created 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" For her actions during the sinking of Caribou, Brooke was named as a Member of the Order of the British Empire on January 1, 1943. Brooke moved to Victoria, British Columbia, following her retirement.

Brooke died on January 9, 2016, in Victoria at the age of 100.

Legacy

Brooke was named an "Alumna of Influence" by the College of Arts and Science of the University of Saskatchewan in 2018. The second Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship of the RCN, , which was launched in 2019 and entered service in 2022, is named in her honour.