E. L. M. Burns

58
E. L. M. Burns bigraphy, stories - Generals

E. L. M. Burns : biography

17 June 1897 – 13 September 1985

Eedson Louis Millard "Tommy" Burns, (June 17, 1897 – September 13, 1985) was a Canadian Army Lieutenant General and diplomat.

Early Education

He was awarded the Military Cross for maintaining communications under heavy fire, and, for the same action at the Somme, his non-commissioned officers received Military Medals.

In 1967 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada for his services to Canada at home and abroad. He was described as a Former Chief of General Staff and Canadian adviser on disarmament in Geneva. He was the 1981 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace for his work in the military of Canada.

He is a 2010 induction to the Wall of Honour at the Royal Military College of Canada.

There is a park located in Nepean named after him.

Civilian life

He served as Deputy Minister of Veterans’ Affairs. He served as a President of the UNAC during the 1950s.

He played a critical role in the Middle East peace process from 1954 to 1959. He was instrumental in developing UN peacekeeping. As Chief of Staff in 1954, United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was designed to maintain the General Armistice Agreements until permanent peace could be formulated.

He served as a Special Staff of the Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine (1954–56) with the Department of External Affairs and was thus nearby when the Suez Crisis of 1956 occurred. He led the UNEF from November 1956 to December 1959. He was Canada’s principal disarmament negotiator from 1960-68.

He held the chair of Strategic Studies at the Norman Paterson School for International Affairs, Carleton University from 1969-75. He wrote “Between Arab and Israeli” (1962); “General Mud: memoirs of two World Wars” (1970) and "Defense in the Nuclear Age" (1976).