FRANCIS PATRICK BURGESS

BY NOAH

WHAT ARE SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT FRANCISS LIFE? Francis Patrick Burgess (1925-1989), journalist , was born on 14 March 1925 at Stanthorpe, Queensland, son of
George Francis Burgess, a shearer from England Queensland-born wife Ellen Mary, ne Hickey. Pats writing later showed the effects of his Catholic upbringing and schooling at Christian Brothers College, Waverley, Sydney. On 30 November 1942 he was mobilised in the Royal Australian Navy. He was then 5 ft 9 in (177 cm) in height, with brown hair and eyes and a fair complexion; he later seemed taller. Physically robust, he was to be as at ease in the war environments of Vietnam and Cambodia as on the beaches of Sydney particularly Manly that he loved. After serving in HMA ships Adelaide and Cowra, he was discharged from the navy as an able seaman on 18 January 1946. , a stenographer. He studied arts and law at the University of Sydney in 1944-50: `Went to university and wanted to be a writer. I didnt know what journalism was and somehow I got the two confused, he later explained. His love of writing and sensitivity to detail would bring a rich poetic quality to his reporting.

Burgesss first jobs, beginning with the Catholic Weekly, were casual. He took up a cadetship with the Australian Broadcasting Commission and decided to become a foreign correspondent. Having served as a police roundsman for the Daily Telegraph, in 1962 he joined the Sun as senior feature writer. His copy was also used by other newspapers of John Fairfax & Sons (Pty) Ltd, especially the Sydney Morning Herald, and by News Ltd, in particular the Daily Mirror. His first foreign reporting experience was in Indonesia and in the early 1960s he reported from Timor for Fairfax and the London Daily Telegraph. Some material gathered during this time was used by Australian intelligence; he claimed that this was the only time he spied for his country. He also reported from Northern Ireland, Israel, Africa, Laos and Cambodia. In 1964 he won the Walkley award for best
newspaper feature story for despatches from the Territory of Papua and New Guinea

WHAT CONTRIBUTION DID FRANCIS MAKE TO AUSTRALIA/THE WORLD?

Burgess again reported from Vietnam in 1966 and during the Tet offensive in 1968. He resigned from the herald Sun in 1970 and was sent by the Daily Mirror back to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Although he generally reported sympathetically about the Australian soldier, he was still declared `black on occasion. In one incident Prime Minister (Sir) John Gorton `turfed him off an official aircraft in Singapore for his increasing criticism of the Australian governments stance on Vietnam.

HOW DID FRANCISS WORK MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD?

In 1978 Burgess was awarded his second Walkley award, for the best television current affairs report: as a freelance journalist with a film crew, he documented Highway One from north to south in Vietnam. Perhaps this success owed something to his Churchill fellowship, awarded in 1968, to study at the British Broadcasting Corporation techniques for combining television documentary work with that of the newspaper correspondent. He published a novel, Money to Burn (1982), and an account of Australian reporters at war, Warco (1986). Burgess loved the freedom of the foreign correspondent: `It is, at last, very much his own barrow that he pushes. His writings were full of lively and unforgettable images. Humour and colourful depictions of events and people often disguised the serious nature of the messages. Although he admitted to self-censorship to protect the `gentle reader, he lamented that the public took little notice at times of significant issues: he believed that his reports on tuberculosis in Timor, for example, `achieved exactly sweet nothing. His legacy tells a different storya rich and courageous life that sought individual freedom in areas of extreme conflict. Pat Burgess died of motor neurone disease on 23 January 1989 at Narrabeen, Sydney, and was cremated. He was survived by his wife and their daughter and three sons.

LIFE SUMMARY
Life Summary [details]
Birth 14 March 1925 Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia Death 23 January 1989 Narrabeen, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Religious Influence Catholic Occupation foreign correspondent journalist sailor/wran war correspondent

QUIZ

WHY DID FRANCIS GO TO VIETNAM AND OTHER PLACES

 To be a journalist and report wars

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL HAVING TO GO TO A COUNTRY THAT HAS WAR GOING ON THERE AND REPORTING THE NEWS ABOUT IT.

SITE LINKS

http://adb.anu.edu.au/

this is the only site I got the information from