David Luther Burgess

David Luther Burgess MC (January 28, 1891 - November 30, 1960) was a World War I flying ace who, in 1926, was the sole challenger to Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in a by-election held in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Born in Kleinburg, Ontario, Burgess moved to Saskatchewan and became a farmer. He enlisted in the Saskatchewan Regiment during World War I and held the rank of lieutenant. In 1917, he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps as an observer/gunner with No 25 Squadron flying the DH-4 bomber from May to October 1917. In conjunction with his pilot Capt. James Fitz-Morris, the duo scored seven victories (4 destroyed, 3 'out of control') and was awarded the Military Cross for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in aerial fighting and on photography".

Mackenzie King had suffered a personal defeat in the 1925 federal election losing his riding of York North in Ontario and needed to win in a by-election in order to re-enter the Canadian House of Commons. Prince Albert Liberal MP Charles McDonald was persuaded to step aside in order to create a vacancy for King.

The Prince Albert by-election would normally have been a formality and the Conservative Party declined to enter a candidate as did the Progressives. However, an acclamation was avoided when Burgess entered the contest with the encouragement of the previous Tory candidate John Diefenbaker.

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