Major Hubert Johnstone – Hu – Bourne (L 1916) served in the Royal Engineers in India and was present at the defence of Singapore in 1941, where he died undertaking reconnaissance against the Japanese.
(Above: Hu Bourne (right) on duty in India in the 1930s)
Early service
After leaving Haileybury, Hu passed into the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he trained as a military engineer. On passing out, he went on to the Royal Engineers School at Chatham, where he took his AMICE. On becoming a qualified army officer and civil engineer, he was posted to India and seconded to the King George’s Own Bengal Sappers to build roads in the Hindu Kush.
Following a spell back in Britain, where he was to marry, Hu was first posted to Burma, where he became garrison engineer at Maymyo, and then passed into Quetta to train as a staff officer at the Indian Army Staff College. From here he became an All-Arms Training Officer at Roorkee before being posted to Bombay and then Bolarum.
War and death
Following the outbreak of war, Hu was then posted to Kotagiri before arriving as a Brigade Major of the 11th India Division in Malaya , just prior to the Japanese invasion of December 1941. He was present at the defence of Singapore when, at Gorun, his brigade came face-to-face with the Japanese.
On 15th December, the very date of his daughter’s sixth birthday, he led a small troop of men to determine the precise location of the enemy, but the group was taken by surprise and Hu was shot in the head and died instantly. He was 39 and, possibly unknown to him, was on the verge of being promoted to colonel. The location of his body is unknown.
In a letter to Hu’s wife, Sally, General Butler, GOC Bombay, wrote,
“I think Hu a greater sense of duty to his country than almost anyone else I know and, what is more rare, his longing to get on in service was entirely devoid of any personal ambition. I know he would have preferred to undergo all the worst hardships, dangers and discomforts of active service than to have the highest and softest job, far removed from danger and hardship. He was really the most straightforward, fearless and single-minded fellow it has been my privilege and good fortune to know – and I am sure that all of us who have known him well are much better men for having known him. You must indeed be proud of him.”
Major Hubert Johnstone Bourne, RE, attached to the 28th Indian Brigade, is commemorated at the Singapore Memorial.
Personal Story
Hu was educated at Haileybury where, in Lawrence House, his Housemaster was L A Speakman (who’s chair still exists in the Society Office – ed). Speakman wrote to Hu’s parents when his charge was 15, saying that he was hard-working, well-intentioned and very good – but he wished he was a bit naughtier! His traits seem well reflected in the comments of General Butler (above) and clearly his sense of duty and service was always with him.
He also bore witness to a Zeppelin in flames in the skies above Haileybury during the Great War. It is unclear from the record whether this is the same Zeppelin which was brought down over Cuffley by Captain William Leefe Robinson in 1916 or whether Hu witnessed a later event.
(Above: happier times: Hubert Bourne and his wife Sally, newly engaged in 1933)
Hu married his wife Sally in April 1934; they were to have two children, Felicity and Jeremy. It the memoir and family history of Jeremy Bourne (L 52), Looking West, printed for family reading, which forms the bulk of the source material for this article and to whom we are grateful in helping us tell the story of Hu’s life and career.
About the Roll of Honour
The information in this article forms part of a wider project for Old Haileyburians to submit information of family members who died on military service and who are commemorated in our Roll of Honour. Our Roll of Honour page enables you also to supply information about your own family members who died on active service.