Kenora Great War Project

 

You can also view an Alphabetical List

The People

soldier_photobar

These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.

Search by name, or filter the search results using the list of options below.

Guillet, Oscar

Joseph Oscar Guillet was born on 7 September 1877 in Marieville, Rouville, Quebec. His parents Jacques Guillet and Celina Desroches had married on 8 February 1864 in Marieville, Jacques having previously been married to Marie Sophie Lussier who died in 1862. Jacques and Celina had five known children, all born in Marieville: Denise (1866), Felix… Read More »

Johnson, Gustave Adolph

Private Gustave Adolph Johnson was called up under the Military Service Act in May 1918 and served overseas for a year. He returned to Canada in July 1919. Gustave was the oldest son of Andrew Gustave and Alena/Alina Johnson of the township of Pellatt in northwestern Ontario. Andrew was born in Sweden, possibly in Stockham,… Read More »

Brookes, John Henry

John Henry Brookes was born on 26 June 1884 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. His parents Thomas Brookes and Mary Jane Dean were both from Warwick, Warwickshire where they married on 22 April 1875. The couple were to make Birmingham their home where Thomas worked as a printer’s compositor. Known children born to the family were… Read More »

Jones, Thomas Edgar

Thomas Edgar Jones was born 1 March 1889 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales to Thomas and  Hannah Jones. When the 1901 census was taken he was 12 years old and living in Swansea with his parents, his sister Elizabeth, 15, and his brother William, 9. His father was working as a woodman on an estate and… Read More »

Parfitt, Arthur Robert

Arthur Robert Parfitt was born on 29 August 1894 in London, England.  He was the youngest child of Fred Parfitt and Elizabeth Woodhouse. Siblings included: Frederick John (b. 1882; served with British Army in WW1), Catherine Emma (1884-1972; married Edwin Thomas Barnard); William Joseph  (1886 – 1963); Agnes Elizabeth (1887-1935; married Albert Deverell); Minnie Jessie… Read More »

Marshall, Henry

Henry (Harry) Marshall was born on 24 May 1879 in Butlers Marston, Warwickshire, England.  His parents were John Marshall and Julia Wilcox. Henry was educated in England and the 1891 Census shows he had three sisters – Florence, Amy and Emma. His father, who worked as a labourer, died in 1896. The 1901 Census shows… Read More »

Taylor, Robert James

Born in Keewatin, Ontario, Robert James Taylor was the son of Robert Taylor and Ada Eastwood. Robert Sr. and his wife Ada had six children between 1893 and 1900 but sadly only two of them survived infancy, Robert James (1894) and his sister Ada Rose known as Rosie (1897). Their mother Ada died on 29… Read More »

McRitchie, Roderick

Company Quarter-Master Sergeant Roderick McRitchie was the son of Donald McRitchie and Anna McLeod of Kenora, Ontario. He was born on 10 October 1868 in Victoria County, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and he had at least six brothers and five sisters. His family moved to Ontario in the 1890s and settled in Rat Portage (later… Read More »

McMillan, James

James McMillan was born on 14 July 1877 in Poltimore, Quebec. Poltimore was/is a village situated in a valley between the Gatineau and Lievre Rivers north of Gatineau. James’ father Archibald McMillan had been born in  Lochiel, Glengarry County, but had moved with his family to the Poltimore area to start a logging camp. Wood… Read More »

Sharples, Arthur Henry

‘Surviving in the war was, most times, just a matter of sheer luck,’ Art Sharples told his daughter, Marg. ‘ Near the end of the war, my buddy, George and I were approaching what we figured was a deserted pillbox. George was leading a horse, a pitiful creature he’d picked up along the way. We… Read More »