Service highlights
- Service number: 727527
- Rank at death: Private
- Born: 26 March 1895, Kintore
- Civilian life: Teacher
- Militia: 28th Perth Regiment, September 1915
- Enlisted for overseas service: 12 February 1916 at Stratford with 110th (Perth) Canadian Infantry Battalion
- Overseas: sailed from Halifax on SS Caronia, 31 October 1916, arrived England 11 November 1916
- Reserve posting: 8th Reserve Battalion, 1 January 1917
- Rank: achieved he rank of acting Sergeant, returned to private at his request, 6 July 1917
- Front line unit in France: 58th Canadian Infantry Battalion
- Died: 26 October 1917
- No known grave: commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial
- Also commemorated: cenotaphs at Rannoch and St. Marys
A Life and Service Remembered
Norman Martin was born at Kintore on 26 March 1895, the eighth of Joseph and Mary Martin’s eleven children. His father died in 1904, while Norman was still young, but he kept going with school and qualified for a Second Class Teaching Certificate. For a year he taught in Huntsville, then by 1915 he was back home with his mother in Blanshard Township near Science Hill.
He joined the local militia in September 1915, then enlisted for overseas service at Stratford on 12 February 1916 with the 110th (Perth) Battalion, just a month before his brother Clarence enlisted with his unit. He showed leadership early and moved quickly through provisional ranks during training. The 110th trained through the winter in Stratford and nearby billets, concentrated at Carling Heights in London, and later went to Camp Borden for advanced training.
In the fall of 1916 the battalion embarked from Halifax on the SS Caronia, arriving in England on 11 November. By then, reinforcement needs meant many newly arrived battalions were broken up, and Norman was posted to the 8th Reserve Battalion on 1 January 1917. He did not go straight to France. Front line units had promoted their own men and did not need senior non commissioned officers from England. Norman did not accept waiting as his war. On 6 July 1917 he asked to revert to private so he could get overseas.
Five days later, on 11 July 1917, he joined the 58th Battalion near Lens. He came through fierce fighting around Avion and La Coulotte, and especially Hill 70, without a scratch. In October the 58th moved into Flanders. On 22 October they were in trenches at the foot of Passchendaele Ridge.
On 26 October 1917, during the fighting for control of Bellevue Spur, the 58th were ordered forward to capture the village of Laamkeek. Norman was killed in action during that attack. The mud and the weather made recovery impossible, and he was buried where he fell. After the war, search teams could not find his grave, and the marker was likely destroyed by shellfire.
His commanding officer had already nominated him for the Military Medal for bravery in the field, but records indicate the recommendation was automatically cancelled when he was killed. Norman is commemorated by name on the Menin Gate Memorial to the missing at Ypres. He was survived by his mother, Mary Martin of Science Hill, and by his brothers, sisters, and a large extended family. His name is also remembered on the cenotaphs at Rannoch and St. Marys.
Major battles and operations
- Hill 70 fighting with the 58th Battalion, including actions around Avion and La Coulotte
- Nun’s Alley raid in Lens
- Third Battle of Ypres.
- Passchendaele operations in Flanders
- Bellevue Spur and the attack toward Laamkeek, killed 26 October 1917
Learn More
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/627437
https://canadiangreatwarproject.com/person.php?pid=57803
https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B5992-S028
http://www.heroesofzorra.ca/index.php/veterans/east-nissouri/item/martin-norman
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1594492/norman-martin/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12038383/norman-martin
https://www.friends58th.ca/58heroes.html
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/5612704
The Fallen by Richard Holt, 727527 Private J.N. Martin, pg 41