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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Norman John Harkness

In memory of:

Lieutenant Norman John Harkness

November 6, 1917

Military Service


Age:

32

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regiment)

Division:

1st Bn.

Additional Information


Son of George and Elizabeth Harkness, of Sundridge, Ontario.

Commemorated on Page 251 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

Panel 10 - 26 - 28

Location:


The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:


TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:

HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

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  • Roll of Honour– "This Roll of Honour has been prepared as a permanent tribute to those men of the teaching profession in Ontario, who enlisted in connection with the Great War."  Source:  The Roll of Honour of the Ontario Teachers Who Served in the Great War 1914-1918 (The Ryerson Press: Toronto, 1922).   The 1914-1918 Roll of Service for Ontario Teachers contains 851 names.  101 died as a result of their military service.  The information on this Honour Roll may differ from other sources as it was compiled by the Department of Education in Toronto, Ontario, from "...varied and numerous sources, that mistakes are inevitable."
  • Menin Gate– Menin Gate, October 2009, photo courtesy of Marg Liessens.
  • Panel 10 Menin Gate– Panel 10 of the Menin Gate, August 2012, photo courtesy of Marg Liessens.
  • Inscription on Menin Gate– Inscription on the Menin Gate, August 2012, photo courtesy of Marg Liessens.

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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