MAJOR BURNHILL

SHOOTING AT EL BALLAH, MARCH 1954

Don Hughes ex: RAMC El Ballah remembers:

I was just coming off guard duty when I witnessed the shooting which killed Major Burnhill and wounded Captain Wilson outside the Main Gate at El Ballah in March 1954.

ATTACK 50 YARDS FROM HOSPITAL GATE
Taken from a Newspaper Article – March 1954

An RAMC officer was killed and another wounded by an Egyptian gunman in the Suez Canal Zone today. The outrage took place 50 yards from the gate of the British Station Hospital at El Ballah, north of Ismailia, while the officers were in a private car.

In another incident, an Egyptian threw a hand grenade into the cab of a British Army vehicle. The passenger seized the grenade and threw it away before it exploded.

A War Office spokesman stated “At 7:35 am Major W.R. Burnhill and Captain Isaac Wilson, both of the British Station Hospital, El Ballah, were travelling in a private car. At a point about 50 yards from the hospital gate they saw three Egyptians and a small boy. One Egyptian had a Sten gun under his coat. The boy pulled the coat away and the Egyptian opened fire. Major Burnhill was wounded in the stomach and Captain Wilson in the shoulder. Captain Wilson was not seriously hurt. Both were taken to the British Station Hospital. The next of kin, the wives of both the men, who are at El Ballah, were informed.” It was later announced that Major Burnhill died from his wounds.

Major Burnhill was quartermaster at the hospital. He was 46 and born at Southampton. He served in the ranks for over 17 years. During the war he rose to the rank of temporary major. Later he transferred to the RAMC in an administrative capacity and became a major-quartermaster. He had three children.

An official statement of other incidents read:-
“At 6 am today, a party of five Egyptians armed with a Bren gun and four Sten guns opened fire on two British Army vehicles from the cover of a field near the residence of the Commander-in Chief, Middle East, General Sir Charles Keightley. There were no casualties and the Egyptians fled as soon as they had fired.”

“At 6:50 am, an Egyptian threw a hand grenade into the front cab of a British Army vehicle at ‘Shell Corner’. The passenger in the cab, with great presence of mind, seized the grenade and threw it out of the cab just before it exploded. There were no casualties and the Egyptian escaped.”
Sent in by Michael Peavoy ex: RAMC Stn Hosp El Ballah Med Branch HQ BTE

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