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Fort to honour famous First World War sniper
By Andrew Thomson
Staff Writer
Fort Saskatchewan Record â †When Henry Norwest fell to a German sniper on August 18, 1918, Canadian Major-General Arthur Currie ordered every available artillery gun to fire on enemy positions as a tribute to one of the British Empire's top sharpshooters.
More than eight decades later Norwest will finally be recognized in the town of his birth.
According to Veteran's Affairs Canada, Henry Louis Norwest was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, of French-Cree ancestry. In his nearly three years of service with the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion, the lance-corporal achieved a sniping record of 115 fatal shots.
Norwest was awarded the Military Medal (MM) in 1917, for his actions during the battle of Vimy Ridge.
The following year, he was awarded a bar to his Military Medal making him one of roughly 830 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces to be awarded this double honour.
Despite his record, Norwest's name doesn't appear on Fort Saskatchewan's Cenotaph listing local soldiers killed in th e First World War.
However the Fort Legion plans to change that and grant Norwest the recognition he deserves.
Legion President Ruth Moodie said the local Branch learned of Norwest from an article in the Ottawa Sun.
In addition to adding his name to the Cenotaph the Legion plans to name Field of Honour at the Fort Saskatchewan Cemetery after him, said Moodie. They 'll also place a marker on each side of the field with Norwest's name and history.
Norwest was born in 1884 and worked as a ranch-hand and rodeo performer. He was also married and had three children.
He first enlisted in January 1915 under the name Henry Louie, but was discharged after three months for drunkenness.
In September 1915 he signed up again with the 50th Battalion in Calgary, under the name Henry Norwest.
In his 1980 book No man's land fellow soldier Victor Wheeler said Norwest, nicknamed â Å“Duckyâ ?, was well liked and well regarded by his fellow soldiers.
Wheeler wrote that Norwest was â Å“known and respected by the greatest snipers in the British Empire Forces - and according to German POWs intensely feared by the foeâ ?
According to Wheeler Norwest had extraordinary patience often sitting for hours or days in a camouflaged blind in no mans land (the land between the trenches) waiting for a target.
Norwest was accompanied by Private Oliver Payne, his official observer who confirmed enemy kills.
â Å“Our famous sniper no doubt understood better than most of us the cost of life and the price of death. Henry Norwest carried out his terrible duty superbly because he believed his special skill gave him no choice but to fulfill his indispensible mission. Our 50th sniper went about his work with passionate dedication and showed complete detachment from everything while he was on the line,â ? Wheeler wrote.
In August of 1918, three months before the war ended, Norwest himself fell to a sniper's bullet.
â Å“A pall of sorrow spread among the regiment as it soon became known that our Cree Indian sniper would never return from the hunt,â ? wrote Wheeler.
Wheeler's book is available at the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library.
Norwest was buried near the village of Warvillers in France.
Sources: No Man's Land by Victor Wheeler and Veteran's Affairs Canada
http://www.fortsaskinfo.com/thepost/issues/9-10/story2.htm
http://www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com/story.php?id=94344
http://www.mmf.mb.ca/cgi-bin/news.pl?action=600&id=128
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/other/native/norwest
By Andrew Thomson
Staff Writer
Fort Saskatchewan Record â †When Henry Norwest fell to a German sniper on August 18, 1918, Canadian Major-General Arthur Currie ordered every available artillery gun to fire on enemy positions as a tribute to one of the British Empire's top sharpshooters.
More than eight decades later Norwest will finally be recognized in the town of his birth.
According to Veteran's Affairs Canada, Henry Louis Norwest was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, of French-Cree ancestry. In his nearly three years of service with the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion, the lance-corporal achieved a sniping record of 115 fatal shots.
Norwest was awarded the Military Medal (MM) in 1917, for his actions during the battle of Vimy Ridge.
The following year, he was awarded a bar to his Military Medal making him one of roughly 830 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces to be awarded this double honour.
Despite his record, Norwest's name doesn't appear on Fort Saskatchewan's Cenotaph listing local soldiers killed in th e First World War.
However the Fort Legion plans to change that and grant Norwest the recognition he deserves.
Legion President Ruth Moodie said the local Branch learned of Norwest from an article in the Ottawa Sun.
In addition to adding his name to the Cenotaph the Legion plans to name Field of Honour at the Fort Saskatchewan Cemetery after him, said Moodie. They 'll also place a marker on each side of the field with Norwest's name and history.
Norwest was born in 1884 and worked as a ranch-hand and rodeo performer. He was also married and had three children.
He first enlisted in January 1915 under the name Henry Louie, but was discharged after three months for drunkenness.
In September 1915 he signed up again with the 50th Battalion in Calgary, under the name Henry Norwest.
In his 1980 book No man's land fellow soldier Victor Wheeler said Norwest, nicknamed â Å“Duckyâ ?, was well liked and well regarded by his fellow soldiers.
Wheeler wrote that Norwest was â Å“known and respected by the greatest snipers in the British Empire Forces - and according to German POWs intensely feared by the foeâ ?
According to Wheeler Norwest had extraordinary patience often sitting for hours or days in a camouflaged blind in no mans land (the land between the trenches) waiting for a target.
Norwest was accompanied by Private Oliver Payne, his official observer who confirmed enemy kills.
â Å“Our famous sniper no doubt understood better than most of us the cost of life and the price of death. Henry Norwest carried out his terrible duty superbly because he believed his special skill gave him no choice but to fulfill his indispensible mission. Our 50th sniper went about his work with passionate dedication and showed complete detachment from everything while he was on the line,â ? Wheeler wrote.
In August of 1918, three months before the war ended, Norwest himself fell to a sniper's bullet.
â Å“A pall of sorrow spread among the regiment as it soon became known that our Cree Indian sniper would never return from the hunt,â ? wrote Wheeler.
Wheeler's book is available at the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library.
Norwest was buried near the village of Warvillers in France.
Sources: No Man's Land by Victor Wheeler and Veteran's Affairs Canada
http://www.fortsaskinfo.com/thepost/issues/9-10/story2.htm
http://www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com/story.php?id=94344
http://www.mmf.mb.ca/cgi-bin/news.pl?action=600&id=128
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/other/native/norwest
