Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: January 23, 1984
• Invested on: June 22, 1984

Late in the afternoon of 2 June 1981, Cpl. Patrick McBride of the Matsqui Police Department and James Roe rescued eight staff members who had taken refuge on the roof of the Living Unit building during a prison riot at the Matsqui Institution in British Columbia. Shortly after the rioting inmates had set fire to the three-storey building, Mr. Roe, a helicopter pilot, responded to an urgent call for help and volunteered to airlift the stranded personnel; Cpl. McBride also volunteered and accompanied Mr. Roe on the first flight. Intense heat and smoke and failing daylight combined to make this rescue mission very dangerous. While Cpl. McBride remained on the roof, providing assistance and armed protection to the staff, Mr. Roe made three separate trips, hovering over the burning building surrounded by inmates hurling rocks and debris at the helicopter. Knowing that a blade of the main rotor had been hit by a rock, thus increasing the chances of a crash, Mr. Roe persisted and succeeded in removing the eight staff members. Cpl. McBride was last to leave; moments later the fire engulfed the building and the roof collapsed.