BURLING, Louis Ronald Henry Burns
30265, Corporal, WW2 Service
27547, Legion of Frontiersmen, New Zealand
CITATION
Mention in Despatches
Gazetted 9 January 1945, p341
Extract from Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45
PETROL COMPANY
'...Next night (22-23 April) was a specially lively one. No. 5 Platoon were shelled again while bringing out troops from Hove Dump, but all got back safely. At 4 p.m. eleven Petrol Company trucks under Captain G. W. Lyon and Second-Lieutenant F. W. Burt uplifted men of the 2788 RAF Squadron and delivered them, via the Inferno Track, to Hove Dump. No sooner had the trucks off-loaded than shelling began, killing and wounding a number of the airmen. ‘Several trucks were also set alight’, says Petrol Company's war diary, ‘and as one of these was loaded with ammunition, it added considerably to the fireworks already in the area. The shelling was intermittent throughout the night but our men and vehicles escaped damage only by being parked under a cliff in dead ground. During the night Cpl L.R. Burling did excellent work, driving trucks away from burning vehicles, putting out fires and attending to the wounded—all under heavy shellfire.’ For this Burling gained a mention in despatches.'
AWARDS
1939-45 Star
Italy Star
Defence Medal
War Medal 1939-45
Mention in Despatches
New Zealand War Service Medal
Legion Pioneer Axe Award [Awarded 1970]
Legion Pioneer Cross [Awarded unknown]
Legion Meritorious Service Medal (LMSM) [Awarded 1967]
Legion Cross Of Merit (LCM) [Awarded unknown]
Legion Long Service & Efficiency Medal (LSEM) [Awarded 1955]
Silver Fern (SF) [Awarded 1958]
Australian Medal Of Merit (AMM) [Awarded 1984]
Canadian Division Medal of Merit (CDMM) [Awarded unknown]
Canadian Division Service Cross (CDSC) [Awarded 1984]
Canadian Division Torchbearers Medal (CTBM) [Awarded 1984]
European Confederation WW2 Veterans Cross
Polish Freedom & Independence Cross
Albert 1st Merit Cross (Belgium)
NOTES
Born 28 September 1907 Palmerston North, New Zealand
Died 30 April 1992 Woodville, New Zealand
Buried Old Gorge Cemetery, Woodville [Sect Main, Block 22, Plot 56]
