Burney, Roger, 1919-1942

"Roger Burney was more a friend of [Peter] Pears's than of [Benjamin] Britten's; rather like the eponymous character Owen Wingrave in Britten's pacifist opera, he was born into a military family and became a convinced pacifist; however, he changed his views after a palpable German atrocity. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and while on active service in 1941 he visited New York, where Britten and Pears were then living. As the British Navy Liaison Officer on the French submarine Surcouf, he died when the vessel was lost with all hands in February 1942." (Philip Reed, in Mervyn Cooke, Britten: 'War Requiem' (1996), p. 47.)

Epithet: Royal Naval Volunteer Reservist and dedicatee of Britten, 'War Requiem'

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000001569.0x0003e0