Sharpshooter: Henry Norwest One of the most famous Canadian
snipers in the First World War was a Métis marksman who went by the name
of Henry Louis Norwest. Norwest was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta,
of French-Cree ancestry. In his nearly three years of service with the
50th Canadian Infantry Battalion, the lance-corporal achieved a sniping
record of 115 fatal shots. The former ranch-hand and rodeo performer
also merited the Military Medal and bar, making him one of roughly 830
members of the CEF to be awarded this double honour.
He received the Military Medal for his actions during the battle of
Vimy Ridge, and the attached Bar during the Battle of Amiens, where
Norwest destroyed several enemy machine-gun posts and achieved a sniping
record that was a battalion high. He was killed by an enemy sniper three
months before the end of the war.
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