Native Scout/Snipers in the Canadian Forces

[EvanL]

When Samuel de Champlain joined a Huron-Algonquin war party in 1609 and killed two Iroquois with the shot from his harquebus, a new era began .... The only protection from the firearms and the greater killing power of the white man was in dispersion, sniping and ambush.
- Military historian Fred Gaffen25

Most Canadians, Natives included, served in the infantry with the Canadian Corps in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). Many Natives became snipers or reconnaissance scouts, drawing upon traditional hunting and military skills to deadly effect.

The duties were straightforward and dangerous. Snipers kept the enemy unnerved with their rifle-fire by shooting at targets from concealed positions called "nests". Scouts slipped behind the front lines in advance of an attack to determine the enemy's positions and capabilities.

Throughout the war, the Department of Indian Affairs received scores of letters from the front commending Native marksmen and scouts. As well, at least 50 decorations were awarded to Canadian Natives for their bravery while sniping and scouting and for performing other feats of valour during the war. Though the following men are few in number, they represent a larger group of unnamed Native soldiers, who placed a greater cause before their own lives.

[EvanL]

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.33 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.34

Norwest's career in the army did not begin so gloriously. He enlisted in January 1915 under the name Henry Louie, and was discharged after three months for misbehaviour.35 Eight months later, he signed up again, under a new name and with a fresh slate.36

Ultimately, Norwest proved to be an inspiration to his unit. A fellow soldier wrote of him:

Our famous sniper no doubt understood better than most of us the cost of life and the price of death. Henry Norwest carried out his terrible duty superbly because he believed his special skill gave him no choice but to fulfil his indispensable mission. Our 50th [Battalion] sniper went about his work with passionate dedication and showed complete detachment from everything while he was in the line. ... Yet when we had the rare opportunity to see our comrade at close quarters, we found him pleasant and kindly, quite naturally one of us, and always an inspiration.37

Sniping was a hazardous infantry role. Most snipers worked in pairs, with one partner shooting and the other observing - scanning the surroundings and reporting enemy movements. It is said Norwest possessed all the skills required of a sniper: excellent marksmanship, an ability to keep perfectly still for very long periods and superb camouflage techniques. Much of his time was spent in "No Man's Land", the dreaded area between opposing forces. As well, Norwest and his observer often slipped behind enemy lines.

The battalion's star marksman earned the MM in 1917 at a peak on Vimy Ridge dubbed "the Pimple". The Canadian Corps, part of a massive Allied offensive, was tasked with capturing the Ridge. Although previous Allied attempts to take it had failed, the elaborately planned Canadian assault succeeded. Most of the Ridge was taken on the first day, April 9. Three days later, the two remaining enemy positions, including the Pimple, were conquered.

According to his award citation, Norwest showed "great bravery, skill and initiative in sniping the enemy after the capture of the Pimple. By his activity he saved a great number of our men's lives."

The following year, Norwest was awarded a bar to his MM. It is not known why, and in August 1918, his bravery was again evident. During the Battle of Amiens, in France, Allied forces advanced 19 kilometres in three days. For his part, Norwest destroyed several enemy machine-gun posts and achieved a sniping record that was a battalion high.

A week later, the 50th was moving into position for its next assignment when the sharpshooter held his final post. On August 18, three months before the war ended, Norwest and two others were looking for a nest of troublesome enemy snipers. A sniper's bullet hit the Métis marksman, killing him instantly. For the members of his battalion, a genuine hero had been lost.

[EvanL]

A Peaceful Man
The most highly decorated Canadian Native in the First World War was Francis Pegahmagabow.26 An Ojibwa from the Parry Island Band in Ontario, he was awarded the Military Medal (MM) plus two bars for bravery in Belgium and France.27 Soldiers who had been awarded the MM and later performed similarly heroic acts could receive bars to it, denoting further awards. Pegahmagabow was one of 39 members of the CEF who received two bars to the MM.

Pegahmagabow enlisted with the 23rd Regiment (Northern Pioneers) in August 1914 - almost immediately after war was declared. Previously, he had worked along the Great Lakes as a marine fireman for the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Within weeks of volunteering, he became one of the original members of the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion, which, along with the rest of the 20,000-strong 1st Canadian Division, landed in France in February 1915.

Sniping was the specialty of the man his fellow soldiers called "Peggy". It has been written of him, "His iron nerves, patience and superb marksmanship helped make him an outstanding sniper."28 In addition, Pegahmagabow developed a reputation as a superior scout.

The 1st Battalion experienced heavy action almost as soon as it arrived on the battlefield. It fought at Ypres, where the enemy introduced a new deadly weapon, poison gas, and on the Somme, where Pegahmagabow was shot in the leg. He recovered and made it back in time to return with his unit to Belgium.

In November 1917, the 1st Battalion joined the assault near the village of Passchendaele. Here, roughly 20,000 Allied soldiers crawled from shell crater to shell crater, through water and mud. With two British divisions, the Canadian Corps attacked and took the village, holding it for five days, until reinforcements arrived. The Allies suffered 16,000 casualties at Passchendaele, and Corporal Pegahmagabow earned his first bar to the MM.

His citation reads:

At Passchendaele Nov. 6th/7th, 1917, this NCO [non-commissioned officer] did excellent work. Before and after the attack he kept in touch with the flanks, advising the units he had seen, this information proving the success of the attack and saving valuable time in consolidating. He also guided the relief to its proper place after it had become mixed up.29
It is not known how Pegahmagabow earned the MM itself and its second bar. It has been said, though, that he merited them during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1916 and at Amiens in 1918.30

In April 1919, Pegahmagabow was invalided to Canada, having served for nearly the entire war. Afterward, he joined the Algonquin Regiment in the non-permanent active militia and, following in the steps of his father and grandfather, became chief of the Parry Island Band and later a councillor. A member of Canada's Indian Hall of Fame,31 Pegahmagabow died on the reserve in 1952.

Francis Pegahmagabow rarely spoke of his military accomplishments. However, his son Duncan recalls being told that his father was responsible for capturing 300 enemy soldiers. "My mother [Eva] told me he used to go behind enemy lines, rub shoulders with the enemy forces and never get caught."32 Duncan also remembers that Pegahmagabow "felt very strongly about his country". Mostly, he sees his father as a peaceful man: "He was always saying how we have to live in harmony with all living things in this world."

[Bombtrack]

Thats really interesting.

And wasnt one of our (if not the most) most decorated soldier an aboriginal as well?

[garoco]

Absolutely fascinating biographies and information there mate, thanks for sharing it :) I am an Australian Aboriginal soldier and one of my prime research projects has been into our Indigenous Military History here in Australia.

Other Indigenous experiences in similiar Commonwealth nations like Canada and New Zealand also greatly interest me because of similar Indigenous social and political conditions and results from service in the military.

There were several Aboriginal Aussie diggers (500+ joined in the First World War alone) - two got the DCM and about four got the MM.

Can you please let me know the source for those accounts? I'd like to find out more.

[EvanL]

Absolutely fascinating biographies and information there mate, thanks for sharing it :) I am an Australian Aboriginal soldier and one of my prime research projects has been into our Indigenous Military History here in Australia.

Other Indigenous experiences in similiar Commonwealth nations like Canada and New Zealand also greatly interest me because of similar Indigenous social and political conditions and results from service in the military.

There were several Aboriginal Aussie diggers (500+ joined in the First World War alone) - two got the DCM and about four got the MM.

Can you please let me know the source for those accounts? I'd like to find out more.
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca

[garoco]

Thanks mate :)

[EvanL]

cheers :D

[pinkeye]

i had posted the same information some time back for the "greatest sniper" thread, but it's always good to remind people of the important military contributions made by the first nations.