Norman Irwin was born on January 2nd, 1892, in Peterborough, Ontario. His mother was George Curtain who he considered as his next of kin. He was described to have fair skin, blue eyes and and brown hair. He was five and a half feet tall and weighed 148 pounds. His calling was a blacksmith and his religion was baptist.

Norman signed up for the army on December 23, 1915. He was assigned to the 57th regiment and 2nd battalion. He was a part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and his unit was called the Canadian Pioneers.

Before he was sent overseas, Norman Irwin received basic training. He was then sent to France on March 8th,1916  to fight in the 2nd battle of the Somme. Then he was promoted to Corporal Norman Irwin on February 6, 1917. He then fought at the battle of Vimy Ridge and was injured. He was shot in the left knee on May 27 1917, on the 3rd of June. He was transferred to to a hospital in Bramshott, England. After that, he was transferred to multiple hospitals for various reasons until his knee almost fully recovered. He had to limp around with a walking stick, but the recovery was said to have no complications. Norman eventually fell and fractured his patella, forcing him to go back to the hospital. In the hospital, he caught double pneumonia and died on October 22, 1918 at 2:45 pm in the Darnoch Hospital, Sutherland,UK. Sometime during the war, Norman Irwin married his wife, Rosella Irwin and left his savings of 100 pounds to her. He was buried in the Dornoch East cemetery in sutherland, UK. He was on the 435th page in the book of Remembrance on September 17th.