E.H. ‘Ernie’ Burden arrived in Fort George on March 16, 1910 as part of a 16-person survey party.
“We came by B.C. Express to Quesnel,” Burden said in an interview with the Prince George Echo in 1962. “We crossed the river at Quesnel and from there it took five days on the Blackwater Road to Fort George.”
Burden, who was born in Fredericton, N.B. in 1888, continued working as a surveyor in B.C. until 1914, when he enlisted with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles in Victoria. He and his unit shipped out to France on Sept. 22, 1915, before moving to the front in Belgium.
He was wounded near the village of Dickebusch (also spelled Dikkebus), near Ypres, on Oct. 7, 1915 – only four days after entering the lines in Belgium. He survived and returned to active duty, fighting in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The following is an excerpt from Burden’s diary from his time on the front in 1915:
Diary from date of leaving England, Sept. 22, 1915
Sept. 22. Left Canadian camp 5:30 p.m., marching to boat with 90 lbs. packs. Very hot. Boat sails at 8:45 p.m., reaching Boulogne (Boulogne-sur-Mer, France) at 11 p.m. Marched two miles to St. Martins camp, where we slept in tents.
Sept. 23. Spent day in camp, drawing rations, etc. Marched down to train at four o’clock. Arrived at Bailleul about midnight, and were billeted in old dance hall, formerly occupied by Germans.
Sept. 24. Spent most of day in billets. Nothing to do. Third day of eating biscuits and bully beef.
Sept. 25. Heavy artillery fire all night, until 8 a.m. Saw several ambulance loads of wounded today. Mounted guard at 3 p.m. for 24 hours. Biscuit and bully beef. Most of squadron on fatigue from midnight until 5 a.m.
Sept. 26. Still in Bailleul. Nothing doing. Numbers of wounded passing.
Sept. 27. Got paid in morning. Met F.C. Swannell in street and have lunch with him, but have to pack up immediately. March six miles, in the dark, with ninety pound pack to farm (illegible) Chateau, one hour from firing line. Sleep in wine cellar. Write Kate and Margo, but believe letter not mailed.
Sept. 28. Have lunch at farmhouse. Omelette, coffee, bread, 1 Franc. Packs up at four p.m. and march two miles to billets in huts. Meet a number of the old 30th (Battalion).
Sept. 29. In huts. Very little to eat. Rain most of day. Talk of pulling out for trenches. Send cards to F.P.A., Kate and Margo.
Oct. 1. March to Basil Seely’s farmhouse and have tea, then travel (illegible) in the tunnels up to the front line. #137 occupied by K.E.H. Germans nearly 300 yards in front. Only C.O. of ‘B’ Squadron present. NCOs, bomb throwers, signaller and scouts. Letters from K.B.S. and B.A.
Oct. 2. On guard all night. Quite cold. 2 hours on, 2 hours off. Several bursts of machinegun fire, no shells. Not much doing in morning. Returned to billets in afternoon.
Oct. 3. Slept late. No roll call. See Joe Mason and Billie Bush, both in the 16th (Battalion). Packs up at noon, whole regiment. (illegible). Long, hard march. Enter front trenches at Dickebusch about midnight.
Oct. 4. Considerable firing all day.
Oct. 5. Bill Woodward and I share a dugout. Cold and damp. Go to farm at night for sandbags, but none there.
Oct. 6. Down to farm again in afternoon. Meet M.M. Balsam with Machine Gun Section, R.C.D. Sgt. Major Marshall takes us down, and when returning, a short distance behind us is shot by a sniper and dies instantly. First casualty in old B Squadron. Am back on (illegible) for four hours at night with D.T. (illegible). Quiet.
Oct. 7. Slept until noon. Shell exploded overhead, hitting Bill Woodward and myself. 1:30. Stay in dugout until dark, and then are taken BGMR dressing station (La Brasserie) by Ready, Nash, Hutchinson, (illegible), Maitland, Sandy, Sullivan, Bond and (illegible). Very painful journey. (illegible) Shipped immediately to another dressing station (St. Eloi) by motor ambulance, where are invalided. Poor old Bill dies during the night.
Oct. 8. Moved to Bailleul and wound dressed. Compound fracture of bone in right leg below knee. In afternoon taken to train and sent off to (illegible). Ms. Perry of Vancouver in charge.
Oct. 9. X-ray of leg taken. Operation in afternoon. Feeling pretty rotten.
On Oct. 21, 1915 Burden was sent back to England, where he spent 18 months recovering from his injury. He returned to active duty in time to take part in the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917.
Early in 1918 he joined the flying corps, the Echo reported in 1962.
“I came back to Prince George in 1920 and I’ve been here ever since,” Burden told the Echo. “I practised as a land surveyor until 1935. Times got pretty tough, so I became postmaster until 1953.”
One of his sons, Robert Burden, was killed in action during the Second World War on Aug. 15, 1944. His grandson, Ernest Kimberly ‘Kim’ Choquette lived in Prince George until his death on Jan. 2, 2020.
