Eedson Louis Millard Burns

Lieutenant General Eedson Louis Millard "Tommy" Burns

Eedson Louis Millard "Tommy" Burns , CC , DSO , OBE , MC , CD (born September 16, 1897 in Montreal , Québec , † September 13, 1985 ) was a Canadian officer who served as major general from 1954 to 1956 as the commander / chief of the staff of the United Nations truce supervision ( United Nations truce supervision organization ) in the Middle East and as a lieutenant general in the wake of the Suez Crisis 1956-1959 commander of the emergency United Nations force UNEF ( United Nations emergency Force ) was that between peace Israel and Egypt should secure. Subsequently, between 1960 and 1968, he was Canada's chief negotiator for disarmament matters at the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee ( ENDC ) in Geneva .

Life

Officer training, First and Second World War

Tommy Burns as a cadet of the Royal Military College of Canada , Kingston

Eedson Louis Millard "Tommy" Burns completed an officer training at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston after attending school and then found various posts as an officer in the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers of the Army . He took part in the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on January 10, 1917 for his bravery and services . Between May 1, 1931 and December 24, 1936, he was a General Staff Officer of the Second Degree for inspections at the National Defense Headquarters. On June 3, 1935, Major Burns with the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire award (OBE) and received on 15 July 1935 brevet as lieutenant colonel . After he was a general staff officer in the 4th Military District from December 25, 1936 to December 14, 1938, he attended the Imperial Defense College (IDC) in London between February 2 and March 9, 1939 . He then stayed in the United Kingdom and was there from September 3 to 17, 1939, initially General Staff Officer of the First Degree at Canada House , the High Commissioner of Canada in Trafalgar Square in London and after the start of the Second World War from September 17, 1939 to September 19, 1939 May 1940 General Staff Officer of the First Degree at the Military Headquarters there.

This was followed by a brief assignment in May 1940 as a commander for reinforcement measures in the Aldershot garrison and, after his promotion to colonel on May 14, 1940 from May 29 to August 5, 1940 as a general staff officer of the first degree of the 2nd Infantry Division. Between 1940 and 1941 he served as Assistant Deputy Chief of the General Staff in the Headquarters for National Defense and received the temporary rank of Brigadier General on February 1, 1941 , which he held until August 1, 1941. He then returned to Great Britain and was a Brigadier in the General Staff of the Canadian Corps between April 10 and August 1, 1940. After serving as Chief Administrative Officer of the Royal Canadian Armored Corps from August 1, 1941 to February 1, 1942, he was again given the temporary rank of Brigadier General on February 1, 1942 and served between February 1, 1942 and April 29, 1943 as commander of the 4th tank brigade. He was then from April 29, 1943 to January 10, 1944 Commanding General of the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in England and was promoted to Major General on May 1, 1943 . After a brief assignment from January 30, 1944 to March 19, 1944 as commanding general of the 5th Panzer Division deployed in Italy , he was awarded the provisional rank of Lieutenant General on March 20, 1944 , which he held until October 14, 1944. During this time he served between March 20 and November 5, 1944 as Commanding General of the Canadian I Corps. Most recently he was in World War II on 5 December 1944 to September 5, 1945 Chief of the Canadian Section at headquarters in northwestern Europe operating 21 Army Group ( 21st Army Group ) of the British Army . During this time he took part in the battle in the Reichswald (February 7-22, 1945) as well as the operation Plunder (March 23-27, 1945) called crossing of the Rhine between Emmerich and Wesel by British, Canadian and American troops. For his services during this time he was mentioned in the war report on April 4, 1945 ( Mentioned in dispatches ) .

Chief of Staff of UNTSA, Commander of UNEF and Disarmament Negotiator

Major General ELM Burns (right) as the UNEF commander in conversation with the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Moshe Dayan (1957)

After the end of the war, ELM Burns, who was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his services in World War II, was Director General for Rehabilitation from 1945 to 1946. On July 12, 1947 he was awarded the Cross of Valor (Αριστείον Ανδρείας) of the Kingdom of Greece . He was Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs from 1950 to 1954 and was also active as President of the United Nations Association in Canada (UNAC). He then took over as the successor to the Danish Major General Vagh Bennike in August 1954, the post of Commander / Chief of Staff of the United Nations Armistice Monitoring Organization UNTSA ( United Nations Truce Supervision Organization ) in the Middle East . He remained in this post until November 1956 and was then replaced by Colonel Byron V. Leary of the US Army .

During the Suez crisis Burns was on the proposal of the then Canadian Lester Pearson advocated more active foreign policy in November 1956 to the first commander of the emergency United Nations force UNEF ( United Nations Emergency Force ) in Gaza appointed, which should secure peace between Israel and Egypt. He held this post until his replacement by the Indian Lieutenant General PS Gyani in December 1959 and was also promoted to Lieutenant General on January 1, 1958 . Subsequently, between 1960 and 1968, he was Canada's chief negotiator for disarmament matters at the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee ( ENDC ) in Geneva .

On July 6, 1967, he was named Companion des Order of Canada (CC) "for serving Canada at home and abroad ." He then took on a professorship for strategic studies at the Norman Paterson School for International Affairs at Carleton University from 1969 to 1975 .

Publications

ELM Burns also wrote several specialist books dealing with disarmament issues and the threat of a Third World War in the nuclear age . His publications include:

• The radial-stereoplotter , National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, 1937
• Between Arab and Israeli , Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, 1962
• Megamurder , Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, Vancouver, 1966
• General mud. Memoirs of two world wars , Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, 1970
• A seat at the table. The struggle for disarmament , Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, 1972
• The Third World War. Must Canada join in? , Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa, 1975
• Defense in the nuclear age. An introduction for Canadians , Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, 1976

Web links

• Entry in generals.dk
• Proof of publication ( Open Library )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 29898, HMSO, London, January 10, 1917, p. 464 ( PDF , accessed January 18, 2019, English).
2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 34166, HMSO, London, May 31, 1935, p. 3602 ( PDF , accessed January 18, 2019, English).
3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37521, HMSO, London, April 2, 1946, p. 1715 ( PDF , accessed January 18, 2019, English).
4. ↑ UNTSO Chiefs of Staff (archive version)
5. ↑ QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE MIDDLE EAST. THE PALESTINE QUESTION (DECEMBER 1955-OCTOBER 1956) on the homepage of the United Nations (archive version)
6. ↑ LIEUTENANT GENERAL ELM BURNS, CC, DSO, OBE, MC, CD on the homepage of the honors of the Governor General of Canada

predecessor	Office	successor
Vagh Bennike	Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization 1954–1956	Byron V. Leary
Item newly created	Commander of the United Nations Emergency Force 1956–1959	PS Gyani