Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of John Phillipson, formerly of Brantford, Ontario.
Digital gallery of Private Norman Phillipson
Digital gallery of
Private Norman Phillipson
His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial (2010). Over 11,000 fallen Canadians having no known place of burial in France, are honoured on this Memorial. May they never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
Digital gallery of
Private Norman Phillipson
Canada's Vimy Memorial, located approximately 8 kilometres to the north-east of Arras, France. May the sacrifice of so many never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
Digital gallery of
Private Norman Phillipson
Norman Phillipson was born in Etherly, County Durham, England on 19 Mar 1897. He arrived with his parents, John and Beatrice, from England in Apr 1913 at age 15 and became a promising local athlete who played for the Brantford Alert Baseball team.
He volunteered for active overseas duty in Brantford, Ontario in November 1915. Shortly after shipping out to England he saw action on the Western Front (France) with the 1st Battalion of the 1st Division C.E.F. He was killed on 9 April 1917, the first day of the attack at Vimy Ridge. His burial was reported being 2 1/2 miles NW of Arras but could not be found by Graves Registration Officers. To this day his burial site remains unknown but his name is engraved on the Vimy Memorial near the Town of Vimy.
Image gallery
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His name as it is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial (2010). Over 11,000 fallen Canadians having no known place of burial in France, are honoured on this Memorial. May they never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
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Canada's Vimy Memorial, located approximately 8 kilometres to the north-east of Arras, France. May the sacrifice of so many never be forgotten. (J. Stephens)
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Norman Phillipson was born in Etherly, County Durham, England on 19 Mar 1897. He arrived with his parents, John and Beatrice, from England in Apr 1913 at age 15 and became a promising local athlete who played for the Brantford Alert Baseball team. He volunteered for active overseas duty in Brantford, Ontario in November 1915. Shortly after shipping out to England he saw action on the Western Front (France) with the 1st Battalion of the 1st Division C.E.F. He was killed on 9 April 1917, the first day of the attack at Vimy Ridge. His burial was reported being 2 1/2 miles NW of Arras but could not be found by Graves Registration Officers. To this day his burial site remains unknown but his name is engraved on the Vimy Memorial near the Town of Vimy.
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 309 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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VIMY MEMORIAL Pas de Calais, France
Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:
Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France.
A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII.
The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made.
On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Poppy Design is a trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command) and is used with permission. Click here to learn more about the poppy.
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