A BRILLIANT CAREER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17503, 20 December 1918, Page 5

A BRILLIANT CAREER

' CAPTAIN ROBERT BURN, OF PETONE. ■

SOLDIER ANB

Among the New Zealanders who have ■ gained distinction during the war is Capwin Robert Burn, the eldest son of 14c Johij. Burn, of the firm of Burn and Sons, motor engineers, Petono (says the Welling, ton Post). From his initial rank of pr> ' vote he has risen brilliantly in four years" to onu of the highest administraiive posi* tions in the aeroplane industry of the ■■ world. . ■ ;■••"

Captain Burn was educated at the JForti ,: Street Model School, Sydney, and for some time engaged and received mechanical --'■• training in his father's engineering shop at >. Pctono. He had a marked aptitude for mechanical work, and some years ago was responsible 'for several inventions ma.lHng fot tho greater efficiency of gas and oL engines Some time before the outbreak oi war ho had gone to England to float a company to exploit a new type of oil engine invented by him, and he was in London when the call came for volunteers. Hβ at once enlisted with the Ist New ZesJland Contingent of Kitchener's Army, and left for Egypt as a "private. His mechanical knowledge became known, and he wa» transferred to the Motor Transport Department, aud promoted to the rank of sergeant-major, being fox a time in charge of the. inotor repairs . shop at one of the main Egyptian camps. While in Egypt he worked out ideas for. an improved grenade and grenade-thrower, and was later sent to England', where he received the rank of lieutenant, to bring his ideas to practical perfection. The inventions wero laid before the Inventions Board, after thorough tests, were approved, with, the result that during the last two years of the war tho Bum " constant angle" grenade gun, which weighs only 16plb and has a 1 range of '600 yards, and the improved bomb .' was in use by the Allied armies., on the western front.

Captain Burn vis then appointed 3. member of the Inventions Board ,tho duty of '■■•• which ■was to examine and to report on ail : ' war inventions. "When the outcry came ' for " speeding-up" in the output of fighting air machines he was transferred to talio charge of the industry at Hendon,_ one «'.'■'. tho most important centres of the industry in tlio world.' His genius for mechanical •' engineering, coupled with his capacity for ' administration, opened for him a still more '■ important position—that of Chief Produc- , tion and Technical Officer in the oeroplanoi . industry. He has recently invented a ccssful improved tank for aeroplanes, and , is now engaged on another important aetoplaco invention. Many interesting war trophies seat out '■ by Captain Burn aro in tho possession, of his father. Tho collection as a whole ia ;' ■ unique, and is of special interest to the people of Now Zealand, as it includes seve- : -i ral of the captain's inventions. These in- .-,' elude the Burn patent discharger for firing grenades, tho Burn time and percus3ioa fuse, the Burn constant angle grenade gun, and a patented message carrier, all of ■which havo been adopted bv tho Allied armies.';! Other tronhies from France, Belgium, and : Gallipoli includo the Mills bomb, pieces of. ' tho Grotlia Zeppelin brought down in lon- , don, a Turkish cricket, ball bomb, a French ' rifle grenade, as used at the first and second ;-■ battles of Verdun, parts of Zeppelin L 32, brought down by Lieutenant Robinson,, V.0., <-vt Cuffly, German Hantine money: ; from the Etndon, mummies from the Egyptian tombs, together with a large collection • of E>rvptian carvings, and the original copy of the order issued by General Sir lart : Hamilton,, before tho landing , at GafllpolV which r&ods: — ■ Forco Order (Special). . " G-eneral Headquarters, > "21st April, 1915..-- v

'' Soldiers of France and of tho King,— ' "Before us lies an adventure uapreoadentcd iu modern war. Together with our comrades of the lleet we oro ->bc=iC to force a landing upon an open (beaoc, in faco of positions which havo been vaanted by our enemies as impregnable. The will be made good, by the help of God and the navy; tho positions will bo stormed, and. the-wax brought one step nearer to a glorious close. ,? _• / "' Remember,' said Lord Kitchener when bidding adieu to your commander, ' remember, once you set foot irpon the GaUipoli Peninsula vou must fight tlio thing through t" a finish.' "Tho wholo world will be watching our progress. Let us prove ourselves 'worthy of tho great feat of arms entrusted to us.

"LAN HAMILTON, " GoneraL"