Canada grave change after Angus historian solves death riddle

An Angus sleuth has solved a death date riddle and helped to get a Scots airman’s name added to a war memorial.

Historian Patrick Anderson’s efforts also mean the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will now need to amend Norman Ainslie Brown’s headstone in Canada.

The change comes after Mr Anderson, from Letham, was contacted by Griselda Fyfe from Edinburgh about Mr Brown who died in October 1918 in Toronto while training to be a pilot.

He discovered that Mr Brown was not listed on the Scottish National War Memorial (SNWM) but was listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission index.

Mr Brown was born in Edinburgh in 1892 and worked in a bank in Toronto before volunteering for service when war broke out.

He trained as a pilot with the RAF in Toronto but was admitted to base hospital on October 9 1918 and later died of influenza.

The RAF recorded his death as October 12, as did an Edinburgh newspaper, but the CWGC index put it down as October 21.

Mr Anderson said: “I knew that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission death date was not correct and my wife Diane found the handwritten records of the Toronto deaths for that period.

“It recorded that Norman Brown’s death date was October 12 1918 due to bronchial pneumonia and respiratory failure.”

RAF Cadet Brown was buried in Toronto Cemetery and has a CWGC headstone recording his service during the Great War.

“This is the first time that I have had to dig deep to find the correct date of death,” said Mr Anderson.

“I have had to submit a file to the CWGC proving the death date is October 12 1918.”

The CWGC will now amend the headstone in Toronto with the correct date of death.