Mee, Lieutenant John Norman
31st Battalion Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment). Born October 15, 1894.
Son of Lottie Jane and William Henry Mee, Derry and Buncrana.
Member of Carlisle Road Methodist Church. Interred in Wailly Orchard Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Name commemorated on the City of Londonderry War Memorial.
Norman Mee, after leaving Foyle College in 1911, entered the Canadian Bank of Commerce, and was appointed to the Peace River Crossing Branch, Northern Alberta.
On the outbreak of war he joined the colours at Calgary, on April 15, 1915, as a private, and received his commission on the field after the second battle of Ypres.
He was wounded in the fighting at Ypres and again at Courcelette (September 3, 1916), so seriously that he was three months in hospital in London, and was some time on convalescent leave.
Advised as to a staff appointment on his discharge as convalescent, he resolutely declined to entertain the idea, his one determination being to get back again with his men as soon as possible.
Further promotion for him was pending at the time of his death, on June 26, 1918, at the age of 23.
He had been specially selected to conduct the bombing enterprise in which he met his death.
His work successfully accomplished, he was returning with his prisoners when the Germans opened a deadly fire on their own men.
Lieutenant Mee, who was mortally wounded, was buried by his comrades at Wailly Orchard Cemetery, close by. His brother, Lieutenant Ernest Mee, was killed in September 1916.
In a letter to the parents of deceased, Colonel Doughty, the commander of the regiment, paid fine tribute to the memory of Norman Mee. 'It is with a very sad heart,' the colonel said, 'that I am writing to tell you about the death of your son, Lieutenant J. N. Mee.
On the 24th June his company raided the enemy, and your son had charge of a large party to do some special work beyond the objective. They were to locate and blow up the dug-out of a German company commander. One of two parties in front of his being held up by German bombers, your son left his party and rushed ahead to assist. He got into the fight, and in the midst of it was
killed. His frightful keenness and great devotion to duty were the cause of his death. Otherwise he would still be with us. We feel we have lost one of our oldest and best friends.
No other officer has shown such calm, cool devotion to duty. He was always fearless, willing to go anywhere and do anything, and ever cheerful.
He was very popular with all the officers, and the men simply loved him. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to you and family in your very great loss. Our only consolation is that he died like a soldier, fighting for his God and country.'
Major Whitaker, army chaplain, also wrote to Norman Mee's parents, after the death of their son, saying:- 'I have been particularly friendly with him since I came to the battalion. We were always together in the same billets. He went over the top on a raid into the enemy lines. His objective was the most difficult one and also the farthest from our own lines.
He carried the objective and secured prisoners and machine guns, and was on his way home again when caught by the enemy barrage. A piece of shrapnel struck him on the left side of the neck and another in the back. He died instantaneously and with a smile on his face.
His death has cast a cloud upon the whole battalion, and personally I have felt more depressed about it than I have felt for a long time. We shall never have another quite like him. Always merry and bright, with a keen sense of Irish humour all his own, he will be sadly missed around the battalion.
I buried him in a little cemetery behind the lines, and a cross will be erected by the battalion. May I express my deepest sympathy with you in your sad bereavement, and may God give you strength to bear it with patience and fortitude.'
Norman Mee's name was read out during a memorial service held, in St Columb's (Church of Ireland) Cathedral, Londonderry, on Sunday, June 28, 1918, to commemorate the Derry soldiers, who had been killed over the past year.
His name was also among a list of Great War dead, associated with Foyle College, Londonderry, read aloud during that College's annual prize giving ceremony, held on Thursday, December 19, 1918.
In 1919, a handsome brass tablet, framed in oak, in memory of Lieutenant J. Norman Mee, was erected in the porch of Carlisle Road Methodist Church. The memorial bore the following inscription: 'Asleep on the bed of honour Lieutenant J. Norman Mee, 31st Canadians, wounded at St Eloi. Ypres (second battle), and seriously at Coureelette. On the 25th-26th-June, 1918, at the battle of Neiuville-Vitasse (France), he was killed while bombing a German commander's dug-out.'
Mee, Lieutenant John Norman
31st Battalion Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment). Born October 15, 1894.
Son of Lottie Jane and William Henry Mee, Derry and Buncrana.
Member of Carlisle Road Methodist Church. Interred in Wailly Orchard Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Name commemorated on the City of Londonderry War Memorial.
Norman Mee, after leaving Foyle College in 1911, entered the Canadian Bank of Commerce, and was appointed to the Peace River Crossing Branch, Northern Alberta.
On the outbreak of war he joined the colours at Calgary, on April 15, 1915, as a private, and received his commission on the field after the second battle of Ypres.
He was wounded in the fighting at Ypres and again at Courcelette (September 3, 1916), so seriously that he was three months in hospital in London, and was some time on convalescent leave.
Advised as to a staff appointment on his discharge as convalescent, he resolutely declined to entertain the idea, his one determination being to get back again with his men as soon as possible.
Further promotion for him was pending at the time of his death, on June 26, 1918, at the age of 23.
He had been specially selected to conduct the bombing enterprise in which he met his death.
His work successfully accomplished, he was returning with his prisoners when the Germans opened a deadly fire on their own men.
Lieutenant Mee, who was mortally wounded, was buried by his comrades at Wailly Orchard Cemetery, close by. His brother, Lieutenant Ernest Mee, was killed in September 1916.
In a letter to the parents of deceased, Colonel Doughty, the commander of the regiment, paid fine tribute to the memory of Norman Mee. 'It is with a very sad heart,' the colonel said, 'that I am writing to tell you about the death of your son, Lieutenant J. N. Mee.
On the 24th June his company raided the enemy, and your son had charge of a large party to do some special work beyond the objective. They were to locate and blow up the dug-out of a German company commander. One of two parties in front of his being held up by German bombers, your son left his party and rushed ahead to assist. He got into the fight, and in the midst of it was
killed. His frightful keenness and great devotion to duty were the cause of his death. Otherwise he would still be with us. We feel we have lost one of our oldest and best friends.
No other officer has shown such calm, cool devotion to duty. He was always fearless, willing to go anywhere and do anything, and ever cheerful.
He was very popular with all the officers, and the men simply loved him. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to you and family in your very great loss. Our only consolation is that he died like a soldier, fighting for his God and country.'
Major Whitaker, army chaplain, also wrote to Norman Mee's parents, after the death of their son, saying:- 'I have been particularly friendly with him since I came to the battalion. We were always together in the same billets. He went over the top on a raid into the enemy lines. His objective was the most difficult one and also the farthest from our own lines.
He carried the objective and secured prisoners and machine guns, and was on his way home again when caught by the enemy barrage. A piece of shrapnel struck him on the left side of the neck and another in the back. He died instantaneously and with a smile on his face.
His death has cast a cloud upon the whole battalion, and personally I have felt more depressed about it than I have felt for a long time. We shall never have another quite like him. Always merry and bright, with a keen sense of Irish humour all his own, he will be sadly missed around the battalion.
I buried him in a little cemetery behind the lines, and a cross will be erected by the battalion. May I express my deepest sympathy with you in your sad bereavement, and may God give you strength to bear it with patience and fortitude.'
Norman Mee's name was read out during a memorial service held, in St Columb's (Church of Ireland) Cathedral, Londonderry, on Sunday, June 28, 1918, to commemorate the Derry soldiers, who had been killed over the past year.
His name was also among a list of Great War dead, associated with Foyle College, Londonderry, read aloud during that College's annual prize giving ceremony, held on Thursday, December 19, 1918.
In 1919, a handsome brass tablet, framed in oak, in memory of Lieutenant J. Norman Mee, was erected in the porch of Carlisle Road Methodist Church. The memorial bore the following inscription: 'Asleep on the bed of honour Lieutenant J. Norman Mee, 31st Canadians, wounded at St Eloi. Ypres (second battle), and seriously at Coureelette. On the 25th-26th-June, 1918, at the battle of Neiuville-Vitasse (France), he was killed while bombing a German commander's dug-out.'
Inscription
In Loving Memory Of
William Henry Mee
Died 13th August 1920
Aged 59 Years.
Lottie Jane Mee
Who Died 2nd May 1949
Aged 82 Years.
Walter Henry Mee
Who Died 1st September 1902
Aged 10 Years.
Ernest Campbell Mee
Killed In Action
3rd September 1916
Aged 25 Years.
John Norman Mee
Killed In Action
26th June 1918
Aged 23 Years
Gravesite Details
Derry City Cemetery (Plot B A 101) is a cenotaph. Find burial here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22497706/john-norman-mee
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