Nova Scotian identified as WWI soldier buried in cemetery in France

CITYnews halifax / By Steve Gow

According to the Department of National Defence, a previously unidentified grave for a Canadian World War One soldier belongs to a Nova Scotian.

The headstone at the Courcelette British Cemetery in northern France, which says only that the plot was for a sergeant of the “Great War Royal” Canadian regiment, will now be rededicated to Sergeant Norman McLennan.

A native of North Cape in Cape Breton, details of the soldier’s early life remain unclear but in a release, DND says he was probably the oldest of six children born to John and Elizabeth (née Morrison) MacLennan.

McLennan enlisted with the Royal Canadian Regiment in Quebec in 1905 but conflicting data on his exact date of birth suggests he may have been underage at the time.

He was deployed to Bermuda at the beginning of the war but his unit was dispatched to the Western Front in France in late 1915, where it served for nearly a year.

His unit fought in the Battle of the Somme and was one of eight Canadian battalions tasked with capturing a major German trench that fortified higher ground.

He was last seen on Oct. 8, 1916, when the Canadians seized the trench and fought off at least three German counterattacks before being forced to retreat.

Sergeant McLennan’s name is inscribed on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France for soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with no known grave well as marked on the war memorial in Cape North.

The CAF has notified McLennan’s family of his identification and is providing them with ongoing support.

The DND says a headstone rededication ceremony will take place at the Courcelette British Cemetery.

With files from The Canadian Press.