Grave of Canadian soldier from First World War identified in cemetery in France
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
OTTAWA – The Department of National Defence says it has confirmed that a previously unidentified grave in France for a Canadian First World War soldier belongs to Sgt. Norman McLennan.
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 McLennan in a ceremony.
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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2026.