Kenora Great War Project

 

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The People

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

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Dodds, Francis Wilfred Ferguson

Sergeant Francis Wilfred Ferguson Dodds enlisted with the 12th Field Ambulance in March 1916 and served overseas for three years. He returned to Canada in June 1919 and was awarded the Military Medal. Wilfred was the oldest son of James Dodds and Margaret Jane Ferguson of Winnipeg, Manitoba. James was born in the Oshawa area… Read More »

Sawkins, Frederick Frank

Frederick Frank (Fred) Sawkins was born on 11 April 1889 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. His father William Henry Sawkins was born in St George, London while his mother Amelia Mary Clarke was from Upton, Worcestershire. The couple married during the last quarter of 1882 in the Registration District of King’s Norton, Worcestershire. Their first two… Read More »

Young, Thomas Malcolm

Thomas Malcolm Young was the youngest son of  William Thomas and May Young of 9545 – 106th Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta. Thomas was born October 16, 1896 in Rat Portage, now known as Kenora, Ontario. His parents William and May (née Simmons) were married in Rat Portage in 1891 and he had two older brothers, William… Read More »

McLeod, Cecil

Cecil McLeod joined the war effort as soon as he was old enough, enlisting with the 76th Canadian Field Artillery Depot Battery in Winnipeg in March 1917, just three months after turning 18. McLeod had been born in Rat Portage Dec. 8, 1898, the son of Edward Donald McLeod, a CPR engineer, and Elizabeth Eakins…. Read More »

Boyce, Cyril Delamere

Cyril Delamere Boyce was born on 21 May 1894 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Arthur Cyril Boyce was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England and after graduating from Osgoode Hall in Toronto, practiced law in Port Arthur, Ontario before moving to Rat Portage. He married Victoria May Louisa Machin on 14 October… Read More »

Hansen, Hans Edward

Private Hans Edward Hansen was one of four brothers from Keewatin, Ontario who served in the First World War. Hans was the oldest son of Nils (Nels) Julius Hansen and his wife Ellen Nilson. Nils and Ellen both immigrated to Canada in the 1880s, Nils from Norway and Ellen from Sweden. They were married in… Read More »

Carlson, Ture Amandas

Ture Amandas Carlson was born on 15 September 1897 in Limsta in the parish of GudmundrГҐ in the county of Västernorrland, Sweden. His father Carl Carlson was from NordingrГҐ in Västernorrland while his mother Sofia Amanda Westmark was from Pitea in Norbotton. The couple had married in Brunno in GudmundrГҐ in 1888. Over the years… Read More »

Lacombe, Lucien

Lucien (known as Luke) was the 1st born child of Adelard A. Lacombe and Leonie Thomas.   Born  in Montebello, Quebec, when he  was still  an infant the family moved to Norman, Ontario.    His siblings were all born in  Norman and Kenora, Ontario.   The children were, oldest to youngest:   Lucien/Luke, Emile, Arcidas/Phil,… Read More »

Comeau, Jules Peter

Sapper Jules Peter Comeau enlisted in July 1916 and served in France and Belgium for more than two years. He returned to Canada in March 1919. Jules was born on 6 July 1885 in Richibucto, Kent County, New Brunswick, a small town on the northeast coast of the province. He was the youngest son of… Read More »

Lowe, Thomas (1875-1918)

The final period of the war, known now as the Hundred Days Offensive, started with the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918. The four-day operation was a remarkable success for the Canadians but it cost them over 11,000 casualties. One of the fallen was Private Thomas Lowe of Kenora, Ontario. Thomas was originally from… Read More »