RESTORING DIGNITY TO A FORGOTTEN SAILOR
The issue
The Case for the Commemoration of Able Seaman Walter Bernard Bourke
⚓ THE SAILOR & HIS SERVICE
Name: Walter Bernard Bourke
Rank: Able Seaman
Service Number: 2419 (Royal Australian Navy)
Enlistment: 16 October 1912 (Aged just 15, signing on for 7 years)
Initial Posting: Training Ship HMAS Tingira
⚔️ WARTIME SERVICE (HMAS SYDNEY)
On 15 October 1913, a day before his 16th birthday, AB Bourke boarded HMAS Sydney (I). Over the next four years, he bore witness to, and participated in, foundational moments of Australian naval history:
The New Guinea Campaign: The taking of German New Guinea (1914).
The Battle of Cocos Island: On deck on 9 November 1914 when HMAS Sydney famously engaged and destroyed the German cruiser SMS Emden.
The North Sea Deployment: Serving in gruelling, perilous conditions under the British Grand Fleet until late 1917.
When he finally stepped back onto Australian soil on 26 September 1917, he was still only 20 years old—having spent his entire transition to manhood at war.
🛑 THE TRAGIC RECKONING
Like many young men shattered or forever changed by years of relentless wartime service, AB Bourke’s story took a difficult turn upon returning home.
8 January 1918: Listed as "Run" (Deserted).
The Service Card: His record reflects the harsh, absolute wartime bureaucracy of the era: "Forfeited all medals, gratuities and deferred pay, not to be reclaimed for further service."
5 December 1925: Just seven years after the war, at 28 years of age, he was struck and killed by a motor lorry in Sydney.
🪦 CURRENT STATUS: A COLLAPSED GRAVE
Able Seaman Bourke currently rests in an collapsed grave in Sydney.
A century after his death, there is zero visual acknowledgement of his naval service. No badge, no official headstone, and no marker recognizes that this young man stood in harm's way for Australia before he was even old enough to vote.
🏛️ THE MISSION: DVA / OAWG GRANT OBJECTIVES
Administrative penalties from 1918 should not dictate the physical degradation of a veteran's final resting place today. This submission requests funding through the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) and the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) to:
Clear, stabilize, and restore the physical grave site.
Erect a permanent, official naval marker or headstone.
Formally acknowledge his historic service aboard HMAS Sydney.
“In ocean wastes no poppies blow... yet on the soil he returned to, a sailor of the Commonwealth shouldn't lie forgotten.”
For more information or to support this restoration project, please contact the Naval Graves Project.
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The issue
The Case for the Commemoration of Able Seaman Walter Bernard Bourke
⚓ THE SAILOR & HIS SERVICE
Name: Walter Bernard Bourke
Rank: Able Seaman
Service Number: 2419 (Royal Australian Navy)
Enlistment: 16 October 1912 (Aged just 15, signing on for 7 years)
Initial Posting: Training Ship HMAS Tingira
⚔️ WARTIME SERVICE (HMAS SYDNEY)
On 15 October 1913, a day before his 16th birthday, AB Bourke boarded HMAS Sydney (I). Over the next four years, he bore witness to, and participated in, foundational moments of Australian naval history:
The New Guinea Campaign: The taking of German New Guinea (1914).
The Battle of Cocos Island: On deck on 9 November 1914 when HMAS Sydney famously engaged and destroyed the German cruiser SMS Emden.
The North Sea Deployment: Serving in gruelling, perilous conditions under the British Grand Fleet until late 1917.
When he finally stepped back onto Australian soil on 26 September 1917, he was still only 20 years old—having spent his entire transition to manhood at war.
🛑 THE TRAGIC RECKONING
Like many young men shattered or forever changed by years of relentless wartime service, AB Bourke’s story took a difficult turn upon returning home.
8 January 1918: Listed as "Run" (Deserted).
The Service Card: His record reflects the harsh, absolute wartime bureaucracy of the era: "Forfeited all medals, gratuities and deferred pay, not to be reclaimed for further service."
5 December 1925: Just seven years after the war, at 28 years of age, he was struck and killed by a motor lorry in Sydney.
🪦 CURRENT STATUS: A COLLAPSED GRAVE
Able Seaman Bourke currently rests in an collapsed grave in Sydney.
A century after his death, there is zero visual acknowledgement of his naval service. No badge, no official headstone, and no marker recognizes that this young man stood in harm's way for Australia before he was even old enough to vote.
🏛️ THE MISSION: DVA / OAWG GRANT OBJECTIVES
Administrative penalties from 1918 should not dictate the physical degradation of a veteran's final resting place today. This submission requests funding through the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) and the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) to:
Clear, stabilize, and restore the physical grave site.
Erect a permanent, official naval marker or headstone.
Formally acknowledge his historic service aboard HMAS Sydney.
“In ocean wastes no poppies blow... yet on the soil he returned to, a sailor of the Commonwealth shouldn't lie forgotten.”
For more information or to support this restoration project, please contact the Naval Graves Project.
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Petition created on 8 November 2026