BURN, Eldon Mills
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force
Flight Lieutenant

NO PHOTO

Born: July 22, 1894
Died: December 4, 1963, Milverton, Ontario
Buried; New Hope Cemetery, Hespeler, Ontario.
Medal: Distinguished Flying Cross.
Served: England, France
After War: Postmaster, Milverton, Ont. 1947 -1963
Family: Parents - Rev. Emil and Mrs. Lydia (Grace) Burn
Sister - Selena
Comments: His father was a minister at Zion Evangelical Church in Tavistock, 1906 -1911
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The following interesting letter was received by the Tavistock Gazette from Flight Lieut. Eldon Burn, son of Rev. and Mrs. E. Burn, Waterloo.

Dear Mother and Father:
Somewhere in France,
May 21, 1912.

I received your letter telling me that you are going to stop in Waterloo for another year.

I have not been so very well lately owing to overwork, almost everyone in the squadron is run down. We carry on with it however, and I expect the main German push any day now, then we will probably all go to the hospital or some rest camp at the seaside. Within the last three days I have shot down two German machines and the only thing that saved the third was the fact that my gun jammed. I was so close to him I could run him down only that would have meant my finish as well. The one machine I shot down went down in flames, the other ones wings came off and he fell from 15,000 feet.

We have scraps every day now, what we call "Dog-fights" where everybody gets right in and fights till the other side quits. I had to go across alone one day on reconnaissance and was attacked by nine German machines; we gave a good account of ourselves and only had one wing shot through. The Commanding Officer was very much pleased and the Wing Commander congratulated the whole squadron on their work. The doctor wants us all to have a week or more rest but Headquarters won't grant it.

The weather is very good now, one hates to fly at all. Every afternoon we have about 4 hours rest after lunch and I go to a small woods near here and sleep on the grass. My nerves are bad and I get very little sleep at night. I wish I could come home for awhile and have a rest and good home cooking. One of my friends with whom I trained in Canada, etc., McLeod by name, got a V.C. for fighting Germans after his machine was on fire and both he and his gunner were wounded in five places; they brought the machine down in no man's land and he pulled the gunner out of the burning machine and hid him in a shell hole from which they were rescued by some South Africans.

But I must close. Hope you are all well. Best love to everybody.

Eldon