William Wallace Allison Burn

William Wallace Allison Burn (17 July 1891 – 30 July 1915) was a New Zealand aviator, who served with the New Zealand Military Forces during the First World War.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Burn was educated in Christchurch, New Zealand, and joined the New Zealand Military Forces in 1912, volunteering for the New Zealand Staff Corps. In 1913 he was selected to be sent to England to receive flight training. Qualifying as a pilot the following year, he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps soon after the outbreak of the First World War and sent to Mesopotamia to serve with the Indian Expeditionary Force (IEF) there. He flew as an observer with the Mesopotamian Half Flight, which conducted reconnaissance flights in support of the operations of the IEF on the Tigris and Euphrates. His aircraft was forced down with mechanical problems while on a flight to Basra and he and his pilot were killed by hostile Arab tribesmen. He was the first New Zealand aviator to be killed in action.

Early life William Wallace Burn, later known as William Wallace Allison Burn, was born in Melbourne, Australia on 17 July 1891. His parents, Forbes Burn, a station manager, and his wife Isabel were originally from Christchurch in New Zealand. The Burn family later moved back to Christchurch, where Burn went to Christchurch Boys' High School.

Interested in the military, Burn joined the Cadet Corps and was an enthusatic participant, eventually becoming an officer. Once his education was completed, he joined the New Zealand Military Forces, being accepted into the New Zealand Staff Corps, with the rank of second lieutenant. His first posting was to the Canterbury Military District, where he served as the adjutant of the 1st (Canterbury) Regiment, a unit of the Territorial Force. He was posthumously mentioned in despatches twice, firstly for his work during the operations at Amara and then for those along the Euphrates.