BURGESS, FRANCIS PATRICK (1925-1989), journalist, was born on 14 March 1925 at Stanthorpe, Queensland, son of George Francis Burgess, a shearer from England, and his Queensland-born wife Ellen Mary, née Hickey. Pat’s 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 9½ ins (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.

On 16 August 1947 at St Canice’s Catholic Church, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, Burgess ...

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Australian Dictionary of Biography