OTTAWA – The Department of Defense says it has confirmed that a previously unknown grave of a Canadian World War I soldier in France belongs to Sgt. Norman McLennan.
The gravestone at the Courcelette British Cemetery in northern France, which only says that the gravesite was for a sergeant of the Canadian Great War Royal Regiment, will now be dedicated to McLennan in a ceremony.
McLennan enlisted in the Royal Canadian Regiment in Quebec in 1905, but conflicting data on his exact date of birth suggests he may have been a minor at the time.
He was deployed to Bermuda early in the war, but his unit was sent to the Western Front in France in late 1915, where it served for almost a year.
His unit fought in the Battle of the Somme and was one of eight Canadian battalions tasked with capturing a large German trench fortifying higher ground.
He was last seen on October 8, 1916, when the Canadians captured the trench and repelled at least three German counterattacks before being forced to retreat.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2026.
Canadian Press Staff, The Canadian Press