November 8, 2023.  Sometimes Pieter needs a break from extensive research. This past winter he decided to help the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek, The Netherlands find photos of a few soldiers for which research had already been done, but no photo could be found.  It seemed like a relatively simple project, but there was a reason no photos were available – they were hard to find!

One of the soldiers whose photo search he undertook was that of Norman Victor Holgate BUCHANAN of Miami, Manitoba.  Born October 25, 1914, Norman was the son of Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Oakes and his birth certificate was registered with the surname Oakes. He received the surname Buchanan after Lizzie married Jim Buchanan, who adopted him. (You can read Norman’s story here: https://www.facestograves.nl/LifeStories/BUCHANAN%20Norman%20Victor%20Holgate-JLE-bio-EN.pdf)

….The search for a photo of Norman Buchanan had many roadblocks….

Norman had many half-siblings – Jeff, Archie, Cliff, Tom, Barney, and Hazel – and it was a reasonable assumption that somewhere in that extensive family a photo of Norman would be found.  Unfortunately, every descendant of Norman’s family that was contacted did not have a photo. 

Pieter then began to look at Norman’s wife, Lillian Warren, from St Claude, Manitoba.  They had married on Christmas Eve in 1941, while Norman was on furlough.  They were not long together as Norman left Manitoba in March 1942 for further training, and then, following a brief leave in November, was sent to the United Kingdom for overseas service in December 1942. 

While serving with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Norman lost his life on February 16, 1945, after receiving a gunshot to his head during the Battle of Moyland Wood in Germany. (See https://legionmagazine.com/clearing-moyland-wood/) 

Lillian and Norman had no children, and research showed that Lillian never remarried.  Pieter was at a standstill where to look next and so we asked Judie Klassen, who has helped with really tough cases in the past, if she could take a look. 

…. A monument in St Claude led to a photo….

Judie ran into the same roadblocks, but did find a poor resolution photo of Norman from a March 3, 1945 Winnipeg Free Press announcement of his death. But Judie didn’t give up!  She let us know that she had “….contacted the St. Claude library about a photo for Norman Buchanan, wondering if they could connect me to a museum/historian in the area….”

She received a note from Robert De Smet of the Societe Historique St Claude.  “…I am a member of the St Claude Historical society, which also cares for our veterans monument here. We unfortunately don’t have any photo of Norman. In fact we were not even aware that Norman had lived in St Claude. Norman’s story is quite remarkable, all the way from losing his father at 2, assumedly a Mr Brissenden, all the way up to his heroic service  during the war.….”

He went on to explain that “….Lillian was well known in St Claude, and that Norman and Lillian were married on Christmas Eve, 1941 in Rathwell, Manitoba while he was on furlough….”  He explained that Lillian had a son. “….Gordon Warren was born in 1936…” 

Then Robert continued, saying “…I have worked with Gordon Warren at the veterans monument in St Claude…”

I called Robert De Smet, who said he would speak with Gordon Warren and ask if there was a wedding photo, or perhaps other photos, of Norman Buchanan.  He explained that Gordon was the contractor who had renovated the war memorial in St Claude! (See http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/stclaudewarmemorial.shtml)

 “…Gordon is still working (at 86 years) with his son at Portage Memorials in Portage la Prairie…” Robert noted.  (See https://portagememorials.ca/about/)  He visited Gordon, who did have a photo! Success! 

We invited Gordon to also send a photo of himself, which he kindly did.

Thank you to Judie Klassen and Robert De Smet for helping in the search for a photo.  Many thanks go to Gordon Warren for sharing photos. Norman’s photo will be included in the 2025 Faces of Groesbeek Exhibition, where for 3 weeks in May photos of soldiers are placed by their graves.

Do you have a story to share?  Please contact Pieter at memorialtrail@gmail.com, or comment on the blog. 

© Daria Valkenburg

….Previous story about a soldier who lost his life during the Battle of Moyland Wood….

Another soldier who lost his life during the Battle of Moyland Wood, and whose story was previously told on this blog, was Alfred Louis PITAWANAKWAT (PITWANAKWAT).  You can read his story at: https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2021/09/06/on-the-war-memorial-trail-remembering-ww2-soldier-alfred-louis-pitawanakwat-pitwanakwat/

….Want to follow our research?….

If you are reading this posting, but aren’t following our research, you are welcome to do so.  Our blog address: https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/

4 countries, 6 weeks, 7,000 km – an unforgettable war memorial journey in Europe…. Daria’s book ‘No Soldier Buried Overseas Should Ever Be Forgotten‘ is available in print and e-book formats.  Net proceeds of book sales help support research costs and the cost of maintaining this blog. For more information see https://nosoldierforgotten.com/ 

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