Profile: Francis Ernest Burnet

Francis Ernest Burnet (1889-1918)

Frank Burnet and Louisa Emily Hewett’s eldest child, Francis Ernest Burnett was born on 5 November 1889 [D03783, D04043, D04044, D06723].

With a long history of military involvement, many members of the the Burnet family joined up with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces when the first World War began. Francis Ernest Burnet, the eldest son at twenty-five, was the first of the family to enlist on 12 May 1915 in Saskatoon [D06723]. He was assigned to the 53rd Battalion initially [D06723].

Ernest Burnet arrived in France in June of 1916 and upon arrival was transferred from the 53rd Battalion to the 14th [D06723]. On the 27th September of 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, the 14th Battalion was hit with some heavy losses and Ernest himself received a shrapnel wound in his left arm and was taken to a field hospital. He managed to recover and was able to return to his Battalion by the end of October [D06723].

Meanwhile, Ernest Burnet was still in France, fighting with the 14th at the Battle of Amiens. On the 10th of August, the 14th Battalion was supporting a charge led by the British and suffered heavy machine guns fire. Ernest received gun shot wounds on both hips, which eventually led to his death of septic thrombosis on 20th August 1918 at the age of twenty-eight [D06732]. He was buried in Abbeville, France [D06732] and is commemorated at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Orillia.