Canada. A Military Cross & Bar To The Capt. Burness, Ppcli, 2Nd University Company

George V. Silver, engraved "Capt Kenneth Charles Burness / P.P.C.L.I. / 1919" on the reverse, measuring 44.5 mm (w) x 48.5 mm (h) inclusive of its integral suspension, original ribbon suspended from a pinback hanger, reverse-mounted under glass with a brief biography which includes his two citations, within a 280 mm (w) x 355 mm (h) frame, extremely fine.

Footnote: Kenneth Charles Burness was born on July 22, 1893 in West Hampstead, London, England, the son of Charles Stuart Burness and Florence Burness. The family later immigrated Canada, settling in Toronto, Ontario. He signed his Attestation Paper with the 2nd University Company CEF (McG144) on May 26, 1915 in Toronto, at the age of 21, naming his next-of-kin as his mother, Florence Burness, stating that he had one years' service with an Active Militia, the Canadian Officers' Training Corps at the University of Toronto, that he was not married and the his trade was that of Student at the University of Toronto in Applied Science. Burness soon went overseas with the 2nd University Company. In England, he was attached to the 11th Infantry Battalion at Shorncliffe on July 18, 1915. He was promoted to Lance Corporal on July 21stand to Acting Corporal on August 19th. Burness was transferred to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) on August 23, 1915 for service in the French theatre, arriving and taken on strength at Rouen on August 24th. Five months later, Corporal Burness arrived from his unit to conduct the Canadian Base Depot on January 30, 1916. He was to spend five days here before leaving for his unit in the field on February 4, 1916 and was promoted to Sergeant on April 26, 1916. Burness was granted a commission as a Temporary Lieutenant and posted to the PPCLI on June 25, 1916. He was named Acting Captain on September 25, 1917, until November 10, 1917 and again named Acting Captain on February 28, 1918, until July 2, 1918. He was promoted to Temporary Captain on August 15, 1918, one day after actions he took at Parvillers in the Somme on August 14, 1918. It were these actions that saw him awarded the Military Cross, his citation appearing in the Supplement to the London Gazette 31119 of Friday, January 10, 1919, on Saturday, January 11, 1919, page 653 and in the Canada Gazette of Saturday, March 29, 1919, page 15 of the Supplement, stating: "Captain Kenneth Charles Burness, PPCLI, Eastern Ontario Regiment. Throughout the operations, lasting five days, he showed exceptional gallantry and resource. On one occasion he found himself cut off with two men under intense machine-gun and rifle fire. One man made his way back slightly wounded. The other was severely wounded, and he got the man on his back and crawled with him over 60 yards to cover. By his gallant act he undoubtedly saved the wounded man from being taken prisoner."