Lt
Norman Cahill Christie

Information about birth

Date of birth:
24/04/1882
Place of birth:
Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada

General information

Last known residence:
Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada
Profession:
Manufacturer
Religion:
Baptist

Army information

Country:
Canada
Force:
Canadian Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Lieutenant
Enlistment date:
23/10/1915
Enlistment place:
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Units:
 —  Canadian Infantry, 85th Bn. (Nova Scotia Highlanders)  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
28/10/1917
Place of death:
Decline Copse, Passchendaele, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
35

Cemetery

Tyne Cot Cemetery
Plot: XXXVII
Row: F
Grave: 20

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 4

#1 Place of birth
#2 Last known residence
#3 Enlistment place
#4 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Norman Cahill Christie was born in April 1882 in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. He remained there, married, and ran a manufacturing business. In October 1915, Norman enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Halifax. He was eventually assigned to the 85th Battalion, better known as the Nova Scotia Highlanders, part of the 12th Canadian Brigade of the 4th Canadian Division.

On October 28, 1917, the 4th Canadian Division left its camp near Ypres and moved to the front, where they relieved the 44th Battalion at Keerselaere, in shell craters and narrow trenches between Decline Copse by the railway and the Passchendaele road. During the relief, a German attack occurred. Lieutenant Christie was wounded in the foot and made his way to a dressing station in a pillbox along the railway for treatment. While he was waiting there, a German shell exploded directly on the bunker.

Norman, 35 years old, was killed instantly. He was buried nearby. After the war, he was reinterred at Tyne Cot Cemetery, Plot XXXVII, Row F, Grave 20.

Sources 5

Hayes J., The Eighty-Fifth in France and Flanders, (Halifax, Royal Print & Litho Limited, 1922), 90-96.
Sources used
McCarthy Chris., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018) 153.
Sources used
Personnel Records of the First World War (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC), RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 1703 - 7).
https://library-archives.canada.ca/
Sources used
War diaries: 85th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC), RG9-III-D-3, Volume number: 4944, Microfilm reel number: T-10751--T-10752, File number: 454).
https://library-archives.canada.ca/
Sources used
War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Death (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC), RG 150, 1992-93/314; Volume Number: 164).
https://library-archives.canada.ca/
Sources used