Canadian Naval Heroes Graphic Vignettes - Margaret Brooke

On October 14, 1942, during a crossing of the Cabot Strait off the coast of Newfoundland, the ferry SS Caribou was torpedoed by the German submarine U-69. The ferry sank in five minutes. Fighting for her own survival, Lieutenant-Commander (LCdr) Brooke (who was a Sub-Lieutenant at the time) did everything humanly possible to save the life of her colleague and friend, Nursing Sister Sub-Lieutenant Agnes Wilkie, while both women clung to ropes on a capsized lifeboat. In spite of LCdr Brooke’s heroic efforts to hang on to her with one arm, her friend succumbed to the frigid water.

For this selfless act, LCdr Brooke was named a Member (Military Division) of the Order of the British Empire.