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GASTON Bruce Furze

Bruce was the son of Malcolm Bruce GASTON & Doris Ada FURZE and was born on the 13th of April 1921 at 8 Webb Street, Cottesloe, WA.

He was the 1st child born into the family of 4 children.

His parents were married in June 1920 in Perth.

His mother was the daughter of James FURZE & Lydia HATHERLY and was born on the 7th of October 1897 in Davenport, SA.

His father was the son of George GASTON & Ann LAWSON and was born on the 16th of August 1895 in Yatta Creek, SA

His father was the manager of the Army and Navy Stores, and later was accountant and storekeeper on the Nil Desperandum gold mine in Burtville. He was the secretary of the Kalgoorlie RSL Sub Branch and in June 1920 he was the secretary of the Perth Soldiers Rest Institute on behalf of the RSL and 3 months later had become the manager of the RSL Institute in Perth.

They lived on the corner of Johnson and Monument Streets, Peppermint Grove, Claremont in 1925.

In 1931 they lived at 92 Broome Street, Cottesloe and his father was an underground shift manager of the Lancefield Gold Mine and later the general manager of the new Gladiator Gold Mine, three miles west of Laverton.

His father worked in the Goldfields so Bruce lived with his maternal Aunt; Amy Evelyn FURZE in Cottesloe when he started school, where he attended Cottesloe Primary and then Fremantle Boys High. As a lad Bruce was gifted both academically and athletically. He often ran to the beach for a quick swim before attending school in Fremantle and joined the Cottesloe Surf Club as a 13 year old (more on that later). As part of his schooling he was taught woodwork, which he practised throughout his life, spending long periods in his shed making long lasting solid pieces of furniture.

After leaving school he commenced a career as an engineering cadet with the Public Works Department.

From 1938 to 1940 Bruce was in the State Junior Rescue and Resuscitation team and competed in the State Junior Surf team championships.

In 1940 he won the Cottesloe Club Marathon.

In 1941 he was included in the senior rescue arid resuscitation team and competed in the State surf championships representing the club in the State surf team race.

At the age of 20, Bruce enlisted into the RAAF on the 3rd of March 1941 and was allotted the service number 406646.

Four Pilot training courses were being conducted (Courses 10 – 13 of the Empire Air Training Scheme) at Pearce Initial Training School and Bruce was allocated to 12 Course “New Wings”, progressing to 4 Service Training, RAAF Geraldton.

At the completion of pilot training at Geraldton SFTS in 1941 each course had a percentage posted directly overseas and others for duties in Australia. Following two weeks' leave, the overseas postings, Bruce included, were assembled at 5 Embarkation Depot in Perth to await sailing directives.

In October 1941, postings were received for them to be sent to Sydney to join a ship bound for a destination overseas. The first leg of the journey began at the Perth Railway Station with sad farewells to wives, girlfriends and relatives and thoughts that it may be years before seeing each other again. The steam engine gave a whistle and a crowded train headed towards the East.

They spent ten days in No 2 Embarkation Depot, Lindfield, NSW before receiving news, that an overseas ship had accommodation for the group. No one knew where they were bound for - maybe the Middle East, USA or UK!

The only clue was that they were to proceed to Newcastle (NSW) and board a ship called the 'SS Themistocles'. On the 18th of November 1941, the ship sailed with an overseas contingent which included Bruce and the following members of 10-13 Courses.

10 Course

*FLETCHER William John 406476

PATERSON William Kay DFC 406536

*RUTHERFORD Bernard Rinian Roy 406540

*SHERWOOD Leslie Roy 406493  

11 Course

BAYLISS Colin Evan 406555

*JENSEN Albrecht Maxwell 406567

MADDERN Geoffrey DFC, DFM 406601

*MORPHETT Douglas Clark 406573

*RUTHERFORD Thomas Alan 406626

SAMSON Coulston Scott 406627

*TOZER Colin Foley 406585

*WHITFORD Allan Pluis DFC 406587

12 Course

*COOK Arthur Sydney DFC, DFM 406614

GASTON Bruce Furze DFC 406646

GANNAWAY Roy George 406644

GREGSON Gordon Hugh 406562

*HOWARD Oliver Lawrence Ismay 406654

*LOONEY Patrick Lawrence 406694

*LAING Edward Vivien 406693

*MCMULLEN John Frances 406660

PUGSLEY Herbert Kitchener 406699

SWIFT Gordon Battley 406552

*SHADDICK Bartlett Parker DFM 406682

*YEAMAN Alfred Neil 406670

*Denotes Killed in Action 1942/43.

Japan and USA were not then in the war and the SS Themistocles sailed as a civilian passenger ship with all lights on and civilian passengers in addition to the below deck cabins with sergeants wearing very white wings. At sea on the first night they still had no idea where they were going. However, surprise of surprises, the ship was heading for the UK via Albany and Fremantle. What a turn up for those who had made fond farewells only two or three weeks earlier - these brave airmen off to war but now back again.

Wednesday the 26th of November 1941 was a great day for Albany. The RAAF contingent paraded through the town and School children were given the morning off to see them and on the 29th of November they were all in Fremantle again. At this stage all the contingent had survived the first month of overseas service. “Little did they know that of this group of 24, fifteen would be killed within the next 12 months”. On the 5th of December, after anchoring a day in Gage Roads Fremantle to have a 4 inch gun mounted on the fore dock that they headed due west for South Africa.

The "Themistocles" was a British Blue Funnel line ship of only 12000 tons - coal burning with top speed of about 8 knots. They arrived at Durban on the 22nd of December 1941. During this time the world war situation had dramatically changed and Japan was in the war.

It was nearly Christmas and they made the most of a few days leave in Durban. Australians had a reputation - some good, some bad - mainly from the Army divisions going through to the Middle East. There were the usual things - cars being carried up the Post Office steps and left in the hall; pregnant girls enquiring how to contact Australians called “Syd Harbour” and the like who had passed through some months earlier in the AIF contingents.

Of course, Bruce’s group behaved very well- that is until a number were thrown out of the Del Monica Night Club after drinking Van der Hum as though it was beer. Suffice to say that Christmas was spent in Durban and New Year in Cape Town. During this period the civilian ship was converted to a troopship. It was painted a dark grey all over. The ship was so old that in some places, where thick paint could be broken off, the layers revealed that it was also painted grey for World War I. Now it was also necessary to sail in convoy.

Whilst Bruce was in Durham, his brother; Malcolm Douglas Furze enlisted into the 2/4th Australian Commando Squadron on the 31st of December in Kalgoorlie and was allotted the service number WX18426.

Bruce joined a slow 5 knot convoy which called at Sierra Leone on the 16th of January 1942. After being chased by submarines and turning out to their gun posts to shoot down German bombers (which turned out to be RAF Arvo Anson’s) they reached Liverpool on the 18th of February 1942, exactly 3 months after leaving Sydney.

Ninety days confined on one ship, exercising daily with deck sports, card games in the evenings, sleeping and eating.

When they arrived in the UK, they were bundled on a train in Liverpool, lunch in London, pass fields of snow and delivered to Bournemouth 3 Personal Reception Centre on the south coast all in the one day.

It was April 1942 before most of them were sent to Advanced Flying Units in England with the RAF, to become accustomed to European flying conditions and eventual postings to operational squadrons.

The pilots from 10 and 11 Courses were posted to the UK with the same contingent and only split when training at Flight Training Units.

Bruce and his No. 12 Course contingent were posted to No. 15 Advanced (Pilot) Flying Training Unit in Oxford where they trained in Airspeed Oxfords.

One of the pilots; Sergeant Bernard Rinian Roy Rutherford (406540) from 11 Course, was posted there also. Sergeant Rutherford was killed while flying solo in an accident at Burton Fleming, East Yorkshire on the 19th of May 42 in Airspeed Oxford aircraft L9647.

He was flying in tail numbering formation with Oxford R6358 when a collision occurred. The wing of the other aircraft struck the tail of his aircraft, which caused this aircraft to dive into ground at 10.30hrs near Pear Tree Farm, Burton Fleming. The other aircraft managed to land safely.

They buried Rinian in the Leconfield (St Catherine) Churchyard, he was 23 years old.

In late September 1942, a period when the RAF was mounting the 1000 plane bombing raids on selected German targets, Bruce received a letter from his mate, Bart Shaddick (Bartlett Parker Shaddick DFM 406682), that he had trained with at No. 12 Course.

At the time Bart was attached to 142 Squadron at RAF Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

“Dear Bruce, the news is not so hot. This joint letter was too late to be of any use to Pat (Sergeant Patrick Lawrence Looney 406694).

There were eight crews of us to start off with, and we did some operations with the Operational Training Unit. The Wimpy Wellington’s we had were not fit to fly in - they were damn near suicide.

The first trip was Dusseldorf, Germany on the 10th of September. At 2100 hours we took off from the RAF Station Wing, Buckinghamshire, Satellite airfield armed with 4 x 500 lb General Purpose bombs. We were caught in searchlights and a lot of flak and came down to 3000 feet over the target.

Three crews turned back, two because they couldn't get height and Bob Carson because his starboard throttle became disconnected.

Downs (Alexander Irvine Lewis Downs 403565) was piloting Wellington DV867, nothing was head from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft had been shot down at 0032 hours by a German night fighter and crashed between Stramproy and Hunsell (Limburg). All the crew members were killed.

Alexander was buried in the Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands.He was 25 years old.

On the 13th of September 1942, Bill (William John Percival Fletcher 406476) was piloting the Wellington L7815. They took off at 2331 hours from RAF Lichfield and carrying 4 x 500 lb (pound) (225 kg) GP (general purpose) bombs, was detailed to carry out an attack on Bremen, Germany. Within minutes of lifting off, the port engine began to falter and the crew made an immediate to base. Tragically, while turning finals, the aircraft spun out of control and crashed. A mere nine minutes had elapsed from the time of their departure. On impact the aircraft became a mass of flames and the crew of five were killed.

In the aftermath of the accident, a party of RAF ground staff were detailed to mount guard on the wreckage. At 0320 hours, there was a tremendous explosion and the four RAF members guarding the crash site were also killed.

Bill was buried in the St.Stephen’s Churchyard, Fradley, Staffordshire.

Our second trip was to Bremen. Several turned back (Pat because one motor caught fire) and the rest of us bombed without loss.

They then let Carson, a Canadian and myself out on leave, the other three pilots, including Pat, went to Essen.

I never saw Pat (Sergeant Patrick Lawrence Looney 406694) again; he was reported missing on the 16th of September, presumed shot down in a flying battle. He was attached to 26 Operational Training Unit, flying Vicker Wellington DV723. He had taken off from the RAF Station Wing, Buckinghamshire, Satellite airfield at 2019 hours on the 16th of September 1942 to attack Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base (Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had no known grave).

This leaves four out of eight crews. It was murder!!

There's no future in the game!!

Bob Carson and I arrived here a few days ago to find Max Jensen (Albrecht Maxwell Jensen 406567) already here. It's good to be with a few of the other chaps. Wimpy III's here, 1600 HP at take off, climb on one motor, four gun turret, electrically operated constant speed full feathering airscrews and all mod cons. Haven't done any work from here, but will probably soon be in it.

Well best of luck old boy. It's a bloody shame about Pat - he may have baled out and be safe. Don't think many of us will survive Night Bombers. Cheerio, Your old pal, Bart"

Unfortunately Bart's predictions came true. It was a period of particularly heavy loss and accounted for many other 10-13 Course aircrew losing their lives at a young age.

On the 15th of October 1942 Bart was recommended for an immediate DFM.

# The Citation for the immediate award of the DFM to Sgt Shaddick is as follows

“Sgt B P Shaddick (RAAF) was Captain of a Wellington bomber detailed to attack Cologne on the night of 15th October 1942. On the way to the target, his aircraft was engaged by anti-aircraft guns working in conjunction with searchlights and was hit in the starboard wing. Immediately afterwards, Sgt Shaddick smelt petrol and on inspection his gauges noticed that petrol from his starboard wing tanks was being lost at an alarming rate. Undaunted, he turned off the port tank and ran both engines on the starboard tanks until they were dry. While adjusting the fuel supply in this manner and although forced down several thousand feet, he carried on through heavy defences to his target which he bombed with success. The aircraft was hit in the port engine when over the target area, but, owing to his skilful piloting and sound judgement, he brought it home on one engine and crash-landed at Manston without injury to his crew. I recommend that his extreme devotion to duty and sterling determination in that he carried on to bomb his target, although seriously damaged on the outward journey and then flew the crippled aircraft home without loss to his crew is recognized by an immediate award of the DFM. “

Bart’s Station Commander remarked:Sgt Shaddick showed great determination in carrying on to attack the target in a damaged Aircraft and considerable skill in bringing the aircraft and crew safely home. Sgt Shaddick is a most enthusiastic young Australian who has instilled a high morale and cheerful spirit of dash into his crew.”

Sadly, only 9 days later, Bart and his crew were shot down and all killed. He was piloting the Wellington X3455 and they took off from RAF Grimsby at 1925 hours, detailed to bomb, Milano, Italy. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off, and it failed to return to base.

Bart was the only Australian in the crew of 5. The aircraft crashed in the North Sea west of the Island of Schouwen, and all the crew were killed. They were buried in various cemeteries in the Netherlands.

Bart was buried in the The Hague (Westduin) General Cemetery, Netherlands. (Westduin is a suburb in the south west district of The Hague (Den Haag)).

Bart was 21 years old.

On the 23rd of February 1943 Max Jensen (Albrecht Maxwell Jensen 406567) was to lose his life. He was piloting Wellington DF691 of 142 Squadron. They took off from RAF Blida at 0230 hours to attack the docks at Bizerte, Tunisia. The ETA to the target was 0515 hours. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Several crews saw an aircraft crash into the sea north of Bizerte, but they could not identify the aircraft. All the crew lost their lives at sea and have no known graves.

Max was 21 years old.

February in the UK is generally cold and bleak and in 1943 it was no exception. Bruce was with 86 Squadron RAF flying VLR (Very Long Range) 4 engine Liberator aircraft on Coastal Command anti submarine operations over the Bay of Biscay and the North Atlantic.

For the long flights, two extra 1000 gallon fuel tanks were fitted in half the bomb bay to enable the Liberator to cover the mid Atlantic (commonly known as the Atlantic Gap). It was an area of ocean that previously had been out of range to aircraft based in Northern Ireland or Iceland, and where German U-Boats considered themselves safe from allied air attacks.

The VLR Liberator flights could span up to 20 hours away from base and during that time weather conditions change considerably and generally for the worse.

It was a grey, cold, bleak, wet February day in 1943 when his crew was scheduled to "take off" at 0400 hours to cover a convoy of 30 merchant ships with a Royal Navy escort en route from UK to Africa. They were to meet the convoy at dawn and stay with it in the area of the outer Bay of Biscay until midday.

Aircraft of that period were not pressurised, air-conditioned or soundproofed so they were dressed in their winter woollies with wool lined high boots and leather jackets. At midday they were looking forward to being relieved by another aircraft, but instead received a radio message from Group control that weather conditions in the whole of the UK had deteriorated to such a degree that no airfields were open for landing, and instead of returning to Ireland they were to proceed to RAF Base Gilbraltar. To me this diversion sounded good as the crew missed the Australian hot weather, but to some of the English crew, with wives waiting at home, and single ones with girl friends and appointments, it was not greeted with such enthusiasm.

Fortunately, their navigator, Denham Hood Hardie (408834) - an Australian EATS trained in Canada, carried charts of Gibraltar as well as Iceland and Newfoundland, as all three areas were possible diversion airfields depending upon the aircraft position in the Atlantic.

Bruce’s instruction from Denham was to head East, strike the coast of Portugal, turn right, go south and then follow the southern coast of Spain around and look for a big rock. Bruce did this and viewed the Spanish countryside as they flew about 2000 feet, just outside territorial space. Spain and Portugal were neutral and allied aircraft were not supposed to fly over such areas at the time.

Apart from Bruce and Denham, the rest of the crew were from England, Canada, Scotland and Northern Ireland. None of the UK members had been outside their country before and they were amazed at the dry looking land of southern Spain and wondered how people could live in such areas. For the two Australians it looked like home, but was far removed from the small very green fields of the UK that they had been flying over for the past 18 months. Eventually they found Gibraltar, but it was only now that their troubles began rather than ended.

Firstly Gibraltar is a small isthmus with a huge solid 13% foot high rock stuck out into the Mediterranean. The landing strip was built at right angles to, and across, the main (and only) road linking Gibraltar to La Linea in Spain. Moreover, this one runway extended out into the sea similar to a jetty or rock groyne. In fact it was still being built to take the larger four engine aircraft such as theirs.

Another complication was that you must fly a circuit around the rock as to do otherwise would have taken them over Spanish territory which was not permitted, as often the Spanish were trigger happy. Furthermore, the road crossing the runway appeared to be in full use with donkey carts, bicycles and trucks meandering across the middle of the landing strip. Yet another problem was that the wind socks at each end of the runway pointed towards one another as the wind swept around each side of the Rock.

By radio contact they were told to fly first along and over the runway at 1000 feet to give a warning, then to make a circuit and land. Disappearing around the Rock they hoped road gates would stop the traffic before they made their final approach. All was OK as the runway appeared and after landing they were directed to a parking bay. The ground that met them were dressed in tropical khaki shorts and little else, so you can imagine how ridiculous they must have looked climbing out of their aircraft in glorious sunshine dressed in our long Arctic woollen and leather wear.

Fortunately they had two days billeted in Gibraltar and were able to borrow appropriate clothes, have a swim and taste some night life and shop for goods which were not available in England.

As an RAAF officer, Bruce was able to withdraw some pay from the base, but unfortunately the RAF crew members were not so lucky.

The eight RAF sergeant crew members borrowed as much money as Bruce could obtain and at that stage Bruce was unaware of the reason, but to his dismay he found out 3 days later.

Returning from Gibraltar they were briefed to proceed to a search and patrol area in the Bay of Biscay and then return to their base in Northern Ireland. All 10 aboard for a return journey, after a really good change and holiday from a UK winter and wartime restrictions. Throttles were opened for take off speed down the runway, but for some strange reason the plane would not lift off as usual and it was necessary to hurriedly adjust trim, flaps, boost, etc. To complicate things further the wind had changed within the previous half hour and a Royal Navy destroyer had swung on its moorings so that its mast appeared sticking up at the end of the runway. They missed the Navy, gained a little height and set a westerly course.

It was only then all was revealed to Bruce by the crew. Apparently they had found that Amontillado and Tio Pepe sherry, which was expensive and almost unobtainable in the UK, was comparatively cheap and plentiful in the shops in Gibraltar. Hence the borrowing of money was to purchase dozens of bottles of sherry for distribution and favours back in UK. In order to hide the booty from RAF guards, customs, etc, the crewmen had removed their pack type parachutes from the canvas outer bags and then refilled each bag with two dozen bottles of sherry. These bags had then been hidden and stacked down at the rear of the aircraft and that weight resulted in the strange tail-down attitude experienced during take off.

The story does not end here as then Bruce had strict instructions from the crew not to fly back above 2000 feet as the plane was not pressurised and the corks would pop out due to reduced air pressure.

Not only would the sherry be lost, but so too would Bruce’s chances of being repaid the borrowed money. The price of the sherry was about 4/ - a bottle in Gibraltar and in the UK it was worth ten times that amount, when available.  All was well until we started our operational area search for a submarine in the Bay of Biscay.

The radar operator reported a contact on the screen about 20 miles 30 degrees starboard so they altered course and, flying at about 1000 feet, headed towards the then unknown object. All eyes were peering ahead hopeful of finding a U-Boat on the surface. Preparations were made to drop depth charges. On closing, however, in a surface mist they found the cause of the contact was a small ship belching smoke and big letters on her sides spelt EIRE, a neutral ship not to be attacked.

They did a circuit and the crew relaxed, disappointed. The calm, however, did not last long as an excited voice over the aircraft intercom reported two German JU88 fighters were circling above and now coming down to attack them. No doubt the neutral ship below had attracted other large slow aircraft such as theirs and the German fighters only had to circle high above, watch for RAF aircraft to "home in" on the neutral ship and then swoop down for the kill.

Their first radio operator, "Dusty" Miller from Cumberland, hurriedly sent out a coded message to HQ advising them that they were being attacked. If they had dived down to sea level they would have gained extra speed, but also would have become a splash target for the fighters. Instead they turned and flew towards them on each attack to double the closing rate and give themselves more room to manoeuvre.

Bruce said it was amazing that whereas normally the mixed broad accents of the Scot, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Canadian and Australian crew were hard to decipher, at this time the talk on the aircraft intercom positioning the attacking aircraft was clear and understood by all.

As a result, with some luck, plus no doubt the incentive of the load of sherry and with intelligent instruction from the crew, they were, after about 30 minutes, able to escape the attacking aircraft and take cover in some cloud at about 3000 feet and 50 miles further out to sea. One fighter had been damaged by their air gunners in forward and rear turrets and, also, the German fighter aircraft could not afford to go too far out from the coast because of their limited range.

Bruce had used extra fuel with manoeuvring at full revs so, after their panic subsided, he asked the engineer to transfer the extra fuel from the bomb bay tanks to the wing tanks. Now they were well out in the Atlantic and a shaking engineer said, "I have something serious to report." "Not another crisis," Bruce thought, but sure enough it was.

Being a special plane with two 1000 gallon extra fuel tanks in the forward bomb bay, the ground crew at Gibraltar (not having serviced that type of long range aircraft before) had not fuelled those extra tanks. The engineer crewman, who should also have checked before leaving Gibraltar that they were filled, was so preoccupied with his booze booty that he failed to do so. Quick calculations by Denham showed if they set a direct course for the south coast of England they could perhaps just make land with the fuel left. With fingers crossed they did make it to Cornwall where they took on enough fuel to return to their base in Northern Ireland.

They became a very popular crew back on the Squadron with sherry, oranges and bananas (and silk stockings for favoured WAAF’s). Not one bottle was hit or broken during their encounter with the JU88’s.

Bruce was paid back his loaned money by all but one member.

Bruce and his crew were patrolling the Bay of Biscay looking for German submarines on the 15th of May 1943 in their VLR (Very Long Range) Liberator.

They spotted a submarine and the attack was made as it dived in position 47°45' North and 26°57' West.

After about 5 minutes a large oil slick appeared on the surface of the sea but no other indication of the fate of the U Boat was evident. On returning to base, details were given to the intelligence officer and facts duly related to RAF and RN Command Headquarters. The first official assessment was "possible damage". A week later further intelligence reports from others classed it as "probably sunk" as no further radio transmissions had been picked up from that particular submarine.

It was surprising for Bruce and his crew to read a book 30 years after this attack and to be given details not only of the positive sinking of U266, but the Captain's name and his war history. From German held records it was established that U266 was a Type VII C submarine built in 1942. The Commander was Rolf von Jessen and the crew numbered 44. Kapitanleutnant von Jessen had previously served on an auxiliary cruiser which had sunk eight British merchant ships. Submarine U266 was based at St Nazaire and on its first cruise sank the 4000 ton Greek steamer Polyktor. On this operation, it had already torpedoed three of 13 ships sunk from Convoy ONS5 sailing between Halifax and Liverpool. Although the attack on the U Boat left Bruce wondering, at the time, it was satisfying to his conscience to learn in the long term that the sinking was more than justified due to the damage that U266 had caused merchant ships and cost the many lives of men serving under the British flag.

Bruce’s other brother; Murray Furze enlisted into the RAAF on the 9th of October 1943 in Perth and was allotted the service number 441546.

On the 2nd of June 1944 Bruce was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (Imperial).

In 1945, following his tour of duty with Coastal Command, Bruce was posted to Nassau, in the Bahamas, where in B24 Liberator Bombers and B25 Mitchell Bombers at 111 RAF Operational Training Unit, he was involved in instructing pilots from Canada and the UK. Here was here for 6 months before returning to Australia.

Bruce was a Member of the Royal Australian Air Force Association.

Bruce was discharged on the 25th of October 1945

Resuming his civilian life back in Perth he resumed his engineering cadetship with the Public Works Department. It was here that Bruce met Miss Muriel Attey.

Bruce received his DCF on the 27th of May 1947 at Government House, Perth.

Bruce married Muriel Percea ATTEY on the 9th of August 1947 in Christ Church, Claremont.

Muriel was the daughter of Norman Victor ATTEY & Adelaide YOUNG and was born on the 1st of May 1920 in Perth.

Bruce re-joined Cottesloe Surf Club and was the driving force behind the club’s resurrection after the war. He was to become President at the tender age of 27 and his huge contribution to the club has been recognised in “The Premier Club”. He was awarded Life Membership in 1957. Apart from his administrative duties, he also was very much a part of Cottesloe’s prominence in swimming and R&R events, winning many club and state titles.

In January 1948 Bruce was one of the Cottesloe Surf Club's crack senior surf boat crew and rowed from Cottesloe to Rottnest Island and back (24 miles) in five hours 55 minutes.

They did this for extra training for future surf carnivals, and to accustom the crew to all types of conditions.

In 1949 they lived at 1 Athelstan Street, Cottesloe and Bruce was an engineer.

In 1954 they lived at 130 Waratah Avenue, Dalkeith - 1980

They had 4 children.

Not satisfied with his swimming achievements, he joined the Royal Perth Yacht Club in 1960 & became involved with outboard motorboats. He had designed and had built his own boats, and with son Geoffrey competed with great success, often achieving 1st place in a Saturday competition. He formed the outboard Boating Association and was President for 7 years. He was an executive member of the water safety division of the National Safety Council and Secretary of the WA Aquatic Council. The man never seemed to know when to stop.

His employment took him to the Department of Industrial Development and in 1968 the Government sent him to London, to work in Western Australia House on the Strand, where he was to become an enthusiastic industries promotion office, attracting British and European firms to invest in his homeland. The whole family sailed by ship to take up this appointment.

Whilst in the UK, Bruce was able to locate his ex-crew member in Lancashire and retrieve the five pounds he owed him from their adventure in 1943. He repaid Bruce with many thanks, but without interest or inflation added.

Bruce duly receipted the debt with a warm beer in the local and a round of golf at the Lanashire Club. Yes, apparently, they had a Tio Pepe as well.

After his retirement he was to join swimming groups such as Claremont Aussi, Beatty Park Bears and Cottesloe Crabs and enjoyed his weekly Sunday swims with “The Vets”. During this time he held 28 state records, 12 national records and was among the top 10 in listings with the Aussi group. His study was decorated with his many medals of which he was immensely proud.

In 1990, Bruce co edited the book “Air Crew for the Duration” with Harry Horner DFC OAM and Raymond Storer.

Bruce and Muriel enjoyed several cruises and joined the Grey Nomad society.

Bruce died on Wednesday morning, the 18th of May 2016 at his home in Dalkeith, aged 95. He was cremated in the Karrakatta Cemetery.

Muriel died the following year on the 25th of July 2017.