Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Vernon Burgess was born in Kensington, New South Wales, Australia on the 3rd of December, 1896 {1}. William Vernon Burgess’ father was Vernon H. Burgess, and his mother was Ada Ellen. His family was relatively conservative and practised Methodist Christianity, and he spent most of his childhood within Sydney, attending Cleveland Street Public School, and Sydney Technical High School, possibly between the years of 1908 to 1914 {2}.

William Vernon Burgess was an avid aerophile as a teenager and young adult, which ultimately set his path into the Royal Air Force in World War One. According to Neville F. Hayes in Billy Stutt and the Richmond Flyboys, William Vernon Burgess dedicated five years in Cadets, subsequently joining the Australian Aero Club and receiving Certificate No. 42 for his excellence and competence in flying {3}. Burgess’ life before the First World War was one devoted to pursuing a career in aviation and comprised of flying aircraft on a regular basis as part of his pastimes. Furthermore, during his adulthood, Burgess was into electrical engineering, pursuing it until he enlisted in the war {4}. 

William Vernon Burgess enlisted on the 16th May 1916 and was allocated to the Engineer Reinforcements in Sydney as a sapper. He was discharged to the Royal Flying Squadron 4th January 1917.

He eventually reached the rank of Captain, and was posted to France on the 25th of July 1917 {5}. Burgess would fight for another month before suffering wounds in battlel {6}. Burgess went on to fight in the Battle of Passchendaele, where upon one reconnaissance mission, as he was daringly flying over enemy positions, out of nowhere gunfire emerged from the distant ground, passing through the top of his plane, then striking his aileron control wire. As he struggled to properly control the aircraft, and under the constant threat of the enemy, he hurriedly waddled back to the aerodrome like a “wounded bird”, surviving to fly another day {7}. The Battle of Passchendaele would eventually result in an Allied victory, which would be followed by multiple Allied gains until the final victory of the war. He survived the First World War when it ended on 11 am, on the 11th of November 1918, however, in an unusual incident was injured only 16 days later, enduring a hospitalisation for 14 days until the 9th of December 1918 when he was discharged {8}.

On the 3rd of June 1919, Burgess was granted the honour of receiving the Air Force Cross, General Service medal, and the Victory medal, which was awarded to all soldiers who fought in the First World War {9}. Burgess continued his service in the R.A.F. until sometime in 1922, when he decided to leave and return home to Australia, where on the 14th of May 1923, he became a flying officer with the R.A.A.F. at Point Cook, Victoria {10}. 

At the age of 27, he married Florence Crossley on the 30th of April, 1924 {11}. After a lengthy four years with the Royal Australian Air Force, Burgess resigned from his position as a Flying Officer, subsequently joining the Department of Civil Aviation and becoming District Superintendent {12}. During his consistent career in aviation safety, Burgess experienced a multitude of plane crashes within Sydney, such as a home-made plane crash in Quaker’s Hill, that crashed due to low flying and bad weather, and also the famous Goya Henry case, where a man by the name of Henry Goya Henry, with a recorded flight time of 2,000 hours and described as a “well-known Sydney aviator,” flew his plane after his licence was revoked by Burgess due to his breaches of certain regulations {13}{14}. However, Goya Henry argued in court that the Commonwealth Government had no authority over air regulations within states, which ultimately led to it being brought up to the High Court. Eventually, the High Court ruled on the side of Goya Henry, deeming the Air Navigation Act of 1920 as invalid, which in turn meant that technically any person could fly a plane in Australia without a licence, although this was combated by a sense of public responsibility by companies in the industry, who also had government subsidies they didn’t want to lose {15}. Burgess would move up to the position of Director of Aviation for New South Wales in 1935 {16}. In his pastimes, Burgess also indulged in Tennis, taking up the sport for many years {17}.

In 1941, with the advent of the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War, Burgess assumed the duty of service to his people, and while being the District Superintendent for Civil Aviation in Salamaua, he enlisted in the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, reaching the rank of Captain, which took part in resistance against the invading Japanese {18}{19}. Later on in 1942, under the command of Burgess Vernon Burgess, Salamaua would be evacuated, and subsequently women and children would be evacuated from Port Moresby {20}. For this, Burgess was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his service to his countrymen and the British Empire in World War Two.

The latest known reference to William Vernon Burgess dates to 1944, with his repeat appearance on the pages of “Who’s Who”, as well as the official records of his M.B.E., which mention that he received the award on the 21st of April, 1944, and according to document of his WW2 service, his service period lasted from 1939 - 1948 {21}.

References

Hayes, Neville F. 2007, Billy Stutt and the Richmond Flyboys. pg. 45.
‘ROYAL FLYING CORPS’, Sydney Morning Herald. 16 June 1917, pg. 14.
Hayes, Neville F. 2007, Billy Stutt and the Richmond Flyboys. pg. 45.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Anonymous, 28 September 1995. National Archives Australia, pg. 16. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5378960&S=5&N=50&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5378960&T=P&S=16
Hayes, Neville. 2007, Billy Stutt and the Richmond Flyboys. pg. 45.
Anonymous, 28 September 1995. National Archives Australia, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5378960&S=5&N=50&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5378960&T=P&S=16
Hayes, Neville F. 2007, Billy Stutt and the Richmond Flyboys. pg. 45.
Ibid.
‘MELBOURNE SOCIETY’, Sunday Times. 11 May 1924, pg. 21.
Alexander, Joseph A. 1938, Who’s Who.
‘AIR TRAGEDY’, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate. 6 July 1932, pg. 5.
‘AIR NAVIGATION ACT - ULTRA VIRES?’, Tweed Daily. 2 November 1934, pg. 3.
‘POWER UPSET’, Macleay Chronicle. 18 November 1936, pg. 1.
‘PILOT’S SUIT - NAVIGATION ACT CHALLENGED’, Daily Examiner. 26 March 1935, pg. 5.
Alexander, Joseph A. 1938, Who’s Who.
‘Heroism Of Civilians Wins Awards’, Daily Examiner. 12 June 1943, pg. 2.
Anonymous, 28 September. National Archives Australia, pg. 29. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5378960&S=5&N=50&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5378960&T=P&S=29
‘Heroism Of Civilians Winds Awards’, Daily Examiner. 12 June 1943, pg. 2.
Anonymous, Records of the Australian War Memorial (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1568891).
Image 1: Hayes, Neville F. 2007, Billy Stutt and the Richmond Flyboys. pg. 45.
Image 2: Anonymous. University of Texas at Dallas, Eugene McDermott Library, ‘William V. Burgess posing in front of an RE-8, while in Proven, Belgium’.
Image 3: Ken Stevenson, “BURGESS photo.jpeg”, Google Drives.
Image 4: Anonymous. 1916. Richmond Aviation School.

Bibliography

(Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive) → https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1THSYYJ8EpWiK1WUv3V3V1S3WkDjvzhM
(Billy Stutt and the Richmond Flyboys, by Neville F. Hayes, pg. 45) → https://drive.google.com/file/d/16mWFMG99zanNy0YejMcUNtjtWHc0hgCq/view
(National Archives Australia)  → https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5378960&S=5&N=50&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5378960&T=P&S=16
(Daily Examiner) → https://drive.google.com/file/d/1USk3C-vyD5nDp4PwcNHIH2iaWCl6xQJa/view
(AIF documents) → https://docs.google.com/document/d/178zxpHhEIJOHKZrf_w6vjkkNKJ1DuSzP/edit
(Australian War Memorial) → https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1568891 
(University of Texas at Dallas) →https://utd-ir.tdl.org/items/9a52d803-a3c0-4cd0-b9ad-96981756be71