On 28 February 1916, a man named Norman Maciver walked into an army recruitment centre at Saltcoats in Saskatchewan, Canada. Norman was a man of small stature, half an inch short of 5 feet, with a chest circumference of only 30½ inches. He was apparently eager to join the Canadian Expedionary Force fighting in France. His mother, erroneously named Mary Macaulay on his enrolment paper, lived a dozen miles away in Wroxton. Norman was born in the Isle of Lewis in 1899 and not married in 1916. On 12 December 1916, he was signed off medically unfit.
On 20 January 1917, a man named Norman Maciver walked into an army recruitment centre at Melville in Saskatchewan, Canada. Norman was a man of small stature, half an inch short of 5 feet, with a chest circumference of only 31½ inches. but apparently eager to join the Canadian Expedionary Force fighting in France. His mother, Mary lived a dozen miles away in Yorkton, where he himself also lived. Norman was born in the Isle of Lewis in 1898 and not married in 1917. On 14 June 1917, he was signed off medically unfit.
Are these the same? It would appear so, tantalisingly so. I have been unable to find a birth certificate for a Norman Maciver being born in either 1898 or 1899, with a mother named Mary. But the similarities are striking. However, having gone through several hundred attestation papers, a chest circumference of 31 inches is very small (average being nearer 38), as is Norman's height of 4' 11.5" (1.50 metres). Maybe that prompted his dismissal as medically unfit? We shall probably never know.
He could have been a drummer for a military outfit. I really like your header picture. Reminds me of that scene out of an old movie where the couple were rolling around on the beach as the tide washed over them. Can't remember the name of the movie but I remember the scene. Linda
ReplyDeleteInteresting little puzzle.
ReplyDeletemost interesting, funny you can't find nay sign of a birth certificate...knowing you you will try to keep digging !!
ReplyDeleteSybil x