Sources: Library and Archives Canada Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave

Name: Walter William Burns Rank: Flight Sergeant Service Number: R/76101 Service: 38 (RAF) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force Date of Birth: September 11, 1919 Place of Birth: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois Date of Enlistment: October 21, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Halifax YMCA, Halifax, NS Age at Enlistment: 21 Height: 5 feet, 5 inches Complexion: Fair Eye Colour: Greyish Hair Colour: Curly Blond Occupation: Laboratory Assistant, Tester Marital Status: Single Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: William Burns (Father), Homewood, Illinois Date of Death: July 13, 1942 Age: 22 Cemetery: Heliopolis War Cemetery, Egypt Grave: 2, Row F, Grave 3 Commemorated on Page 61 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on February 12 Walter William Burns was the son of William Alfred Burns (1892-1958) and Mary Ann Devine Burns (1894-1929), of Homewood, Cook Co., Illinois, and the brother of Oliver James Burns (1917-1993), and Robert Henry Burns (1921-1940). His brother Oliver served with the US Marines during WWII. Walter was not accepted for service with the United States Army Air Corps due to his short stature. Unwilling to sit back while others flew, he went to Nova Scotia to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force. At the time of his enlistment, Walter’s permanent address was his hometown in Homewood, in Cook County, Illinois, but his address at enlistment was the Halifax YMCA in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to enlistment he was working for Sherwin Williams Paint plant as a laboratory assistant and tester. After enlistment October 21, 1940, he was posted to the military depot in Toronto 2 days later and transferred to RCAF Station Trenton November 10, 1940. He trained with Operational Training Unit No. 20 (20 OTU) from September 23, 1941, until November 22, 1941, when he was detached to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. He joined 15 OTU on February 22, 1942, at RAF Harwell which had just been formed there 7 days earlier on February 15, 1942, to train night bomber crews using the Vickers Wellington. His date of transfer to North Africa isn’t known, but by July 1942, he was flying from RAF Shallufa (LG-215) near Port Tewfik (Suez) in Egypt. On July 13, 1942, he was killed in action when his Vickers Wellington bomber crash- landed while returning from a bombing operation over Tobruk, Cyrenaica, Libya. It crashed near Shallufa when the aircraft ran out of fuel returning from a raid. Two other crew members, RAFVR Flight Sergeant William George Fissenden, Observer, and RCAF Pilot Officer Franklin Benedict Morgan, Pilot were also killed. Two surviving crew members were RAFVR Sergeant Albert Mannering, and RAFVR Sergeant Douglas John Mole, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. Flight Sergeant Walter William Burns was interred 3 days after his death on July 16, 1942, at the Heliopolis War Cemetery. He was Homewood, Illinois’ first casualty of the war.