Captain Edgar Anskar Sissener (E.A.S). "Ed" Chowne, MM, Officer Commanding the (smiling) Signals Section of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada beside the Robbie Burns statue in Stanley Park, November 1929. Caption: "Signallers Nov. 1929" This monument in Vancouver's Stanley Park was unveiled in 1928 by The Honourable Ramsay MacDonald, ex-Prime Minister of Britain. It was the first statue erected in Vancouver. It is one of several monuments to Robert Burns in Canada, all of them replicas of the original by George Lawson, which is found in Ayr, Scotland, which was erected in 1891. In February 1924, inspired by a recently published critical analysis of Burns’ work, the Vancouver Burns Fellowship was formed to encourage the study of Burns’ life and works and the singing of his songs. The group also hoped to erect a statue of Burns in Stanley Park. The unveiling ceremony on August 25, 1928 featured music by the pipe band of the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders and the Vancouver Scottish Choir. The proceedings were broadcast using loudspeakers so that the crowd, estimated at 10-12,000, could hear the program. Motion picture films were made of the ceremony and later shown in theatres in Vancouver and across Canada. A court stenographer created a verbatim record of the proceedings, which is reproduced in Vancouver’s Tribute to Burns. 130237 Captain Edgar Anskar Sissener (E.A.S). Chowne, MM arrived in France on 2 April 1916. He was commissioned from the ranks on 8 February 1916. He was wounded with a GSW to the thigh on 31 October 1917 at Passchedaele. He was also wounded in the chin and left as well as chronic bronchitis. He was also gassed. He was discharged as medically unfit on 25 April 1918. From the regimental history , page 26: "At Montrelet the first decoration parade of the Battalion was held, when Pte. E. A. S. Chowne was presented with the Military Medal he had won at Kemmel." He was awarded the MM on 9 December, 1916.