Private Henry Norwest was killed during the Battle of Amiens in 1918 and buried at Warvillers, a nearby town. The original grave marker erected by his battalion bears no resemblance to the plain headstone that marks his grave today. A photograph of Norwest’s original grave marker shows an elaborate wooden cross that towers above those placed on either side. The identifying inscription reveals that he was a renowned sniper and that his record of 115 hits was a source of regimental pride. Norwest’s status as a sniper meant that his role during the First World War was quite different than that of the average soldier. His impressive record shows that he was more talented than the average sniper. Yet, his experiences in the First World War can …show more content…
A tribute released by his Battalion Commander on the occasion of his death was the first document to associate his sniping ability with his “Indian blood.” Since then Canadian historians such as L. James Dempsey have perpetuated this association by crediting his talents to a childhood spent in the woodlands of central Alberta. However, despite Norwest’s reputation as one of the best snipers in the British army very little attention has been devoted to his life on the Western Front. In fact, scholar Leslie Parker Mepham argues that military historians often neglect to examine the role of snipers in the First World War. This gap seems significant in light of the fact that the actions of snipers were frequently mentioned in the 50th Battalion’s official war diary and that detailed accounts of Norwest’s prowess stand in stark contrast to the diary’s dry summation of daily military activities. First World War veteran Victor Wheeler’s frequent references to Norwest as a distant but deeply respected figure in his personal history of the 50th Battalion prove that Norwest’s actions were of interest to the average soldier as well as high command. A close examination of Norwest’s experiences on the frontlines of the First World War is necessary to understand the important role played by snipers, and why they were …show more content…
This time he was assigned to the 50th Battalion, one of the more ethnically diverse units in the Canadian forces. The 50th Battalion embarked for England a month after Norwest’s re-enlistment and spent ten months training in England. It was during training that Norwest’s marksmanship probably drew the attention of his commanding officers and led to his appointment as a sniper. Aboriginal historian Timothy C. Winegard suggests that racial stereotypes regarding Indian recruits’ innate martial abilities often influenced battalion commanders’ decisions to appoint them as snipers and
In An American Soldier in World War I, David Snead examines account of George Browne, a civil engineer who fought as part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I. Snead shares Browne’s account of the war through the letters he wrote to his fiancé Martha Ingersoll Johnson. Through Browne’s letters and research conducted of the AEF, Snead gives a concise, informative, and harrowing narrative of life as a soldier serving in the camps and front lines of the Great War. Snead attempts to give the reader an understanding of Browne’s service by focusing on his division, the 42nd Division, their training and preparation, combat on the front lines, and the effects of war on George and Martha’s relationship. As Snead describes, “Brownie’s letters offer a view of the experiences of an American soldier. He described the difficulties of training, transit to and from France, the dangers and excitement of combat, and the war’s impact on relationships.” (Browne 2006, 2) Furthermore, he describes that despite the war’s effect on their relationship, “their
With careful planning, co-operation, good leadership and courage, Currie managed to bring out the characteristics of a well thought out success at Vimy Ridge in April of 1917 (Dancocks, 1985). Sir Arthur Currie’s responsibility was to command the 1st Canadian Division (Hyatt, 1987). He pushed his troops to undergo rigorous training and to prepare themselves by using a life-size course, with every trench marked by tape and a flag (Dancocks, 1985). Currie designed very accurate maps and he had a small-scale plasticine model built so that it could be studied by all soldiers. Arthur Currie insisted that his division’s knowledge of the enemy was excellent (Dancocks, 1985).
Stacey, C. P. Six Years of War: The Army in Canada, Britain and the Pacific.
The Canadian Corps had just been given a new lease on life, whether they knew it or not. Canadian Major-General Arthur Currie and Lt.-General Sir Julian Byng and the entire Corps had been tasked with an impossible task in some opinions. Tasked they were with ...
Mahoney, Harry Thayer, and Marjorie Locke Mahoney. Gallantry in action: a biographic dictionary of espionage in the American Revolutionary War. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1999.
„h My survival, honour and safe return home was all but a fading light at the end of the tunnel. It was clear that they wanted me to fight the Boer, but also to be used as a bloody scapegoat for the bloody empire, I lieutenant Morant, leader of the special group, the Bushveldt Carbineers. I guess that us Australians fighting for the Empire was not a privilege, but a bloody scam, a set up, we were fooled.
Company E, Berdans 1st Regiment United States Sharpshooters. (n.d.). Retrieved July 2009, from US Sharpshooters: http://www.ussharpshooters.co.uk/index_files/Page2772.htm
To write this book the author, John Toland, had to devote 15 years researching different stories from all sides of the war. He studied war memoirs, interviewed war veterans, and read military documents. While doing this he focused on both the allied and axis forces to truly understand both sides of the story and be able to write such a descriptive and accurate piece of work. This research was used in the book to describe the unlikely victory of the Americans over the Germans during the “Battle of the Bulge”.
Field, Frank. British and French Operations of the First World War. Cambridge (England); New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Autobiographies, diaries, letters, official records, photographs and poems are examples of primary sources from World War One. The two primary sources analyzed in this essay are the poems, “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen and “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae. Primary sources are often personal, written from the limited perspective of a single individual. It is very difficult for the author to capture their own personal experience, while incorporating the involvement and effects of other events happening at the same time. Each piece of writing studied describes the author’s perception of the war. Both of the poems intend to show to grave reality of war, which often was not realized until the soldiers reach the frontlines. The poems were both written at battle within two years of each other. However, the stark difference between the two poems is astonishing. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” gives a much different impression than “In Flanders Field” despite the fact that both authors were in the same war and similar circumstances. The first two lines in “In Flanders Fields” “…the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row.” are an image o...
The Forgotten Soldier is not a book concerning the tactics and strategy of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. Nor does it analyze Nazi ideology and philosophy. Instead, it describes the life of a typical teenage German soldier on the Eastern Front. And through this examined life, the reader receives a first hand account of the atrocious nature of war. Sajer's book portrays the reality of combat in relation to the human physical, psychological, and physiological condition.
Saturday, a novel by Ian McEwan, was written in 2005 in response to McEwan’s interest in the interplay between the social and professional worlds. McEwan’s novel follows top English neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne, through a typical Saturday disrupted by various intense events. Perowne takes many of these events in stride, allowing his logical nature to carry him through the process of action and reaction, each step proceeding rationally from the next. Perowne’s logical views of the world and the people within it are born from his education and work as a neurosurgeon. Within the novel, these views progress into every part of Perowne’s life from his relationships with his friends and family to his hobbies to his opinions, mainly his opinions regarding
"First World War.com - Feature Articles - Life in the Trenches." First World War.com - A Multimedia History of World War One. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. .
On the night of March 5th, it is believed that a small group of boys began taunting a British soldier. Over the boys’ nonsense, the soldier battered one of his oppressors with his musket. Soon after the alleged incident a crowd of about fifty or sixty people surrounded the frightened solider. The enraged crowd of people sounded the soldier, encouraging him to call for backup. Soon after calling for help, seven soldiers along with Captain Preston...
Remarque, Erich Maria, and A. W. Wheen. All quiet on the western front;. Boston: Little,