A BRILLIANT CAREER

Otago Witness, Issue 3380, 25 December 1918, Page 38

A BRILLIANT CAREER

CAPTAIN ROBERT BURN, OF PETONE.

SOLDIER AND INVENTOR.

Among the New Zealanders who have gained distinction during the war is Captain Robert Burn, the eldest son of Mr John Burn, of the firm of Burn and 89ns, motor engineers, Petone (says the Wellington Post). .From his initial rank of private he has risen brilliantly in four years to onij of the highest administrative positions in the aeroplane industry of the world.

Captain Burn was educated at the .Fort Street Model School, Sydney, and for some time was engaged and received mechanical training in his father's engineering shop at Petone>. He had a marked aptitude for mechanical work, and some years ago was responsible "for several ' inventions making for tho greater efficiency of gas and oil engines Some time before the outbreak of war he 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. Ho Vat once enlisted with the Ist New Zealand Contingent of Kitchener's Army, and left for Egypt as a private. His mechanical knowledge became known, and he was transferred to the Motor Transport Department, and promoted to the rank of sergeant-major, being for a time in charge of the motor repairs shop at one of the main Egyptian camps. j While in Egypt he worked out ideas for an improved grenade and grenade-thrower, and I was later sent to England, where he received j the rank of lieutenant, to bring his ideas Ito practical .perfection. The inventions j were laid before the Inventions Board, and, ! alter thorough tests, were approved, with the result that during the last two years of the war the Burn '" constant angle" grenade gun, which weighs only 16|lb and „has a range of 6CO yai-ds, and the improved "bomb was in use by the Allied armies on the Western front.

Captain Burn was then- appointed a member of the Inventions Board ,the duty of which was to examine and to report on aa war inventions. When the outcry came for " speeding-up" in the output of fighting air machines he was transferred to take charge of the industry at Hendon, one of the most important centres of.the industry in the world.. His genius for mechanical engineering, coupled with his capacity for administration, opened for him a still more important position—that of Chief Production and Technical Officer in the aeroplane industry. He has recently invented a successful improved tank for aeroplanes, and is now engaged on another important aeroplace invention. Many interesting war trophies sent out by Captain Burn are in the possession of his father. The collection as a whole is unique, and is of special interest to the people of New Zealand, as it includes several of the captain's inventions. These include the Burn patent discharger for firing grenades, the Burn time and percussion fuse, the Burn constant angle grenade gun, and a patented message carrier, all of which have been adopted by tho Allied armies. Other trophies from Prance, Belgium, and Gallipoll include the Mills bomb, pieces, of the Gotha Zeppelin brought down in London, a Turkish crioket ball 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., at Ouffly, German Hantine money from the Emden, mummies from the Egyptian tombs, together with a large collection of Egyptian carvings, and the original copy of the order issued by General Sir lan Hamilton before the landing at Galhpoh, which reads:

"Force Order (Special). " General Headquarters, 1 "21st April, 1915. " Soldiers of France and of the King " Before us lies an adventure unprecedented in modem war. Together v/ith our comrades of the fleet we are about to force a landing upon an open ibeach, in face of positions which have been vaunted by our enemies as impregnable. The landing will be made good, by the help of God and the navy; the positions will be stormed, and the war brought one step nearer to a glori- "' Remember,' said Lord Kitchener when bidding adieu -to your commander, ' remember, once you set foot upon the Gallipoli Peninsula vou must fight the tiling through to a finish.' _ "The whole world will be watching our progress. Let us prove ourselves worthy of the great feat of arms entrusted to us. "lAN HAMILTON, " General."