Edward Leo Burns signature

Electrician Edward Leo Burns was conscripted into the Engineers Section of the 2nd Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment in Ottawa on this day in 1918. He was born in Deseronto on November 8th, 1889, the son of James Burns and Ellen (née Fox). Burns’s regimental number was 3325727. He was described as five feet six inches tall, with a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair and a large scar on the outer side of his right knee cap.

Burns’s service record shows that before leaving Canada he had quite extensive dental treatment. Below is the chart explaining that on July 11th, 1918 he had eight fillings, three extractions and bridgework to replace his four missing top front teeth.

Edward Leo Burns dental treatment

Edward left Montreal on July 19th, 1918, arriving in England on August 8th on the SS Corsican. He joined the 3rd Canadian Engineer Reinforcement Depot, with which he served in England until June 23rd, 1919, when he returned to Canada on the SS Belgic, arriving in Halifax on Dominion Day. He was demobilized in Kingston on July 3rd.

Burns married Mary Reedy in Cobourg, Ontario on September 13th, 1926 and the couple had three children. He died in 1954 and was buried in St Michael’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Cobourg.