The notion of Umar supposedly realizing that "a verse was lost" after the events of Yamama is found in a Munqat’i (broken chain) report. This grade in hadith science means it lacks rigorous authentication, it doesnt however necessarily mean it is fabricated
"Umar was once looking for the text of a specific verse of the Qur’an (he vaguely remembered). (To his deep sorrow), he discovered that the only person who had any record of that verse had been killed in the battle of Yamama (and that the verse was consequently lost)".
Everything between brackets is absent from the actual Arabic
"Umar bin al Khattab enquired about a verse from the Book of Allah and was told it had been with/maa' a certain person who had been killed on the day [battle] of Yamama. Upon which he [Umar] said ‘Verily we belong to Allah’ and ordered the Qur’an [to be gathered] and so it was compiled".
The preposition maa'/with indicates two things being together, in a physical sense, ie the memorizer with a written copy of a particular verse. Umar, like many other contemporaries was a memorizer, he was simply looking for a written copy of the verse he knew. Nothing in the report implies lack of knowledge, forgetfulness or complete loss.
The true meaning therefore, as corroborated by the history is that the written copy of a certain known verse was with by someone who had been killed. This was the very reason Umar consulted with Abu Bakr to compile the Quran in book form. The early companions wanted to establish a parallel process of compilation and preservation, combining memorization and writing, both corroborating and authenticating oneanother.
Further reading answering The Islam Issue "The fate of the Ibn Masud codex"
- Acts17apologetics seek the details; how was the compilation done? (ibn Masud opposes Zayd)
- Islam critiqued wakes up with the wrong foot..(missing suras and other differences in ibn Masud's codex)
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