Harold Torrance Burgess was born on Christmas Day, 1893 to William and Letitia Burgess in North Bay, Ontario. His family moved to Ottawa around the turn of the century. The youngest of 4 children with siblings William, Lillian and Frances Pearl, the family tragically lost their Mother, Letitia who died suddenly at the age of 41 on September 2, 1906. Harold was 12 years old.

The Burgess family resided at 63 Waverly Street, close by to his school Ottawa Collegiate (now Lisgar Collegiate) where he graduated circa 1910, while also serving in the Ottawa Public School Cadets, attending St. Matthew’s Church in the nearby Glebe.

Following graduation, Harold eventually moved to Victoria, BC and began work as a stenographer. Less than 3 months after war is declared, Harold enlisted on November 9, 1914 while still in Victoria and was assigned to the 30th Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force (#77494). Just 3 months later, on Feb 23, 1915, his unit was shipped to England and was quickly assigned to the Western Front in France. Likely due to both the terrible casualties suffered in battle as well as his own capabilities, Harold quickly rose the ranks and was appointed as Sergeant. On May 14, 1915, he was transferred to the 7th Battalion (1st British Columbia Regiment). The battalion became part of the 1st Canadian Division, 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade where it saw action at along the Western Front in France. During this period, he was awarded both the Victory Medal and British Star for serving in battle in France in 1915.

It was during this time that his division fought in a number of major conflicts, including the Battle of Festubert, a part of the larger battle of Artois during May/June 1915 in which more than 200,000 casualties on both sides were incurred (which included French forces attacking, capturing but failing to hold Vimy Ridge). The Canadians suffered more than 2,000 casualties during this overall battle.

His brigade continued on into 1916, fighting in the Battle of Mount Sorrel and then into the infamous Battle of the Somme which started on July 1, 1916 lasting through to mid November 1916, with more than a million casualties on both sides.

On August 11, 1916, Sergeant Burgess applied for and was transferred to the British Army’s 7th Battalion. Harold continued with his own development and on November 9, 1916, Sergeant Burgess was awarded a commission and now held the rank of 2nd Lt. with the 7th Battalion, London Regiment, Royal Fusiliers where they fought in the Battles of Fleurs Courcelette and Le Transloy, part of the final actions of the Battle of the Somme in November 1916.

2nd Lt. Burgess was then assigned to 3rd Battalion of the London Regiment and it is with this unit that he was attached in spring 1917. It was likely that in March, he was involved in the buildup to the overall Battle of Arras, a major offensive devised by the Allies to achieve a major penetration of German lines and break the stalemate which existed on the Western Front at that time. Vimy Ridge was part of this overall offensive.

2nd Lt. Harold Torrance Burgess was killed in action on April 2, 1917. It is likely that he died in the preparation for the Battle of Arras which began just 7 days later, as part of the British Army.

Of great interest, less than 3 weeks after his death, Harold’s father enlists in the Canadian Army, 58 years old, in the 230th Forestry Battalion and serves overseas in both England and France, before being discharged in July 1918, due to his age.

2nd Lt. Harold Torrance Burgess is buried at Agny Military Cemetery with 407 other Commonwealth servicemen. It is located near the Pas-de-Calais, France.

Harold is remembered at Lisgar Collegiate Institute as well as St. Matthew’s Church. In addition, like so many families who were grief stricken with the loss of their son, at Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery, he is remembered on the family headstone of his mother Letitia and his father, Lt. William Burgess who died in 1929. On both headstones in Ottawa and France is the inscription William chose for Harold’s battlefield headstone:“He sleeps the sleep of those who bravely die.” In Pas-de-Calais, Harold rests today.