Bert Bushnell

Bert Bushnell had been educated locally at Henley Grammar School and his family owned a boatyard at Wargrave, with a branch at Henley, but had Bert worked in the family business his amateur status might have been in jeopardy, so he was apprenticed as an engineer to the firm of Thornycroft’s. He worked on motor torpedo boats World War Two and participated in the Dunkirk evacuation.

As the winner of the Wingfield Sculls in 1947 and runner-up in the Diamond Sculls in 1948, he was disappointed not to be selected for the single sculls at the 1948 Olympics. However, teaming up with Richard “Dickie” Burnell he won the Olympic double sculls. Bushnell had prepared well for the Olympics and toured South America the previous winter, where he maintained an unbeaten record.

He retired from rowing after his Olympic tournament and returned to work in the family business before setting up his own boatyard in 1951. Bushnell ran a fleet of fifty hire cruisers and would become chairman of the British Hire Cruiser Federation. He settled in Portugal after his retirement but later returned to Britain after the death of his wife. Bert Bushnell was a talented sprinter as a young man and later played football for Maidenhead United. He was also a keen golfer and squash player.