Henry John Burden DSO DFC (28 April 1894 – 28 March 1960) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

, officially credited with 16 victories.

Life and work

Burden was born in Toronto, the son of Margaret Elizabeth Beattie (Eaton) and Charles Elbridge Burden, and grandson of department store founder

Timothy Eaton Timothy Eaton (March 1834 – 31 January 1907) was an Irish businessman who founded the Eaton's department store, one of the most important retail businesses in Canada's history. Early life and family He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, ...

. He first saw action with the Canadian Forestry Company in France in mid 1916. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1917 for flight training. Qualifying as a pilot, he flew the S.E.5a with No. 56 Squadron in France from February 1918 onwards. He claimed five Fokker D.VIIs shot down on 10 August 1918, and two days later he claimed three more. He was awarded the DSO and DFC in November 1918. His final wartime tally consisted of 13 (and 1 shared) destroyed, and 2 'out of control'. Burden became an architect after the war and died in March 1960 aged 64. His sister Margaret married fellow Canadian ace Billy Bishop.

References

1894 births 1960 deaths Military personnel from Toronto People from Old Toronto Eaton family (Toronto) Canadian aviators Canadian World War I flying aces Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I {{Aviation-bio-stub