- Henry Norwest
Henry Norwest MM & Bar (
May 1 1884 inFort Saskatchewan, Alberta –August 18 1918 atFouquescourt ,Somme ,France ) was a distinguished Canadiansniper inWorld War I .Military career
A former ranch-hand and
rodeo performer, he served for a short time with the Northwest Mounted Police until September 1915 when he joined the Canadian army. In his nearly three years of service with the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion, the lance-corporal achieved a documented sniping record of 115 fatal shots. While Norwest was an outstanding marksman, the thing that set him apart from others was his superb stealth tactics and his expertise in the use ofcamouflage . As a result of his exceptional abilities his superiors frequently sent him onreconnaissance missions into "No Man's Land" or behind enemy lines.In 1917, Norwest earned the
Military Medal during theBattle of Vimy Ridge and the following year he was awarded the bar to his Military Medal. Only three months before the war ended, Norwest was on a mission to find a German sniper's lair when he was killed by the enemy sniper.Personal life
Nicknamed "Ducky", Henry Norwest was Métis of
Cree /French origins from the Hobbema reserve inAlberta . Married and the father of three children, he is buried in the Warvillers Churchyard Extension Cemetery,Warvillers ,Somme ,France .External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7622 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
