Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold announced today the appointment of Major General E. L. M. Burns, of Canada, as Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine, to succeed Major General Vagn Bennike of Denmark.
Gen. Bennike’s appointment was for one year. When it expired on June 17,1954, the Secretary-General requested Gen, Bennike to continue in office until a successor was appointed and had arrived in Jerusalem.
Gen. Burns is at present Deputy Minister of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Canada. He was born in 1897 in Westmount, Quebec. He has been active in the affairs of the United Nations Association in Canada, having been president in 1952 and 1953. He attended the fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 as an alternate delegate for Canada, serving mainly or the Fourth Committee.
In announcing the new appointment, the Secretary-General paid special tribute to “the conscientiousness and the high sense of duty” with which Gen, Bennike discharged his heavy responsibilities as United Nations Chief of Staff during the period of his tenure. “His impartiality, his judiciousness and his personal courage won for Gen. Bennike the admiration of the members of the Security Council and of the Secretariat,” said Mr. Hammarskjold. “He made a real contribution during a period of severe crisis in Palestine. His efforts have earned for him the gratitude of all members of the United Nations.
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