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.

Horne, William Ross

Private William Ross Horne was called up in January 1918 and sent overseas a month later. He served in Great Britain for a year and a half, returning home in August 1919. Ross was the youngest son of William Franklin Horne and Wilhelmena (Minnie) Marion McKay of Keewatin, Ontario. William was a cooper by trade… Read More »

Smith, Charles Henry

Charles Henry Smith was one of three brothers, the oldest of seven sons of Charles Alexander Smith of Keewatin, Ontario to enlist during the Great War. Charles Henry Smith served with the U.S. Army while his brothers John Wesley Smith and Leonard Edward Smith served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Charles Henry was Charles Smith’s… Read More »

Sawchuk (Savchuk), Steve

According to his attestation papers, Steve Sawchuk (Savchuk) was born on 25 December 1885 in Ostrozan, Kiev, Russia. His parents were Philip and Domikia/Dominikia Savchuk. Steve was married in Russia and when he signed his attestation papers he gave Maria Savchuk, wife, who still lived in Russia as his next of kin. He also said… Read More »

Morton, Herbert Laurence

Driver Herbert Laurence Morton enlisted with the Canadian Engineers in September 1915, at age 18. He went overseas a few months later and served in France and Belgium for two and a half years. In 1998, at age 101, he was awarded the Legion of Honour (Chevalier) at a ceremony in Vimy, France. Laurence was… Read More »

Gray, Colin Campbell

Sapper Colin Campbell Gray enlisted in March 1917 and served with the Canadian Railway Troops in the UK, France and Belgium. He returned to Canada in May 1919. Colin was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 4 June 1887. His parents were Captain John Gray, a mariner, and Mary Campbell. Six of his brothers and sisters… Read More »

Lingwood, John

Soldier, actor, carpenter, town constable, radio repairman, cattle rancher, sewer inspector and those were just a some of the many jobs John Lingwood held over his lifetime. But it was his time as a soldier that most influenced his life. John Lingwood was born March 2, 1883 in Bareilly, India, the first child of British… Read More »

Binns, Percy Vere

Percy Vere Binns was born on 9 February 1893 in Port Antonio, Jamaica.  Both of his parents had also been born in Jamaica. His father Ellis Panton Binns was the son of cabinet maker John Binns and wife  Jessie and his mother Amelia Saffery was the daughter of William and Amelia Saffery. In a christening… Read More »

Barker, Francis Oliver

According to his attestation papers Francis Oliver (Frank) Barker was born on 13 January 1887 in Foxboro near Belleville, Ontario. A birth record was not found and his BC death record gives his place of birth as Belleville. His father Frederick (Fred) Joseph Barker was from Shoreditch, London, England and had immigrated to Canada in… Read More »

Sinclair, Benjamin Elton

Kenora’s David George Sinclair and his wife Eliza Ann Bock had four sons that served in WW1 – Leslie Foster John (born 1887), Levi Wilmot (born 1893), Roy Frederick (born 1895) and Benjamin Elton (born 1899).  The family arrived in Rat Portage (Kenora) in 1903 and settled north of town in the rural area of… Read More »

Selman, Harry

Harry Selman was born during the second quarter of 1888 in Tormarton, Gloucestershire, England. His parents were Thomas Selman who was born in Tormarton and Sarah Green, born in Calstone, Wiltshire. The couple married on 7 May 1881 in Tormarton. Harry did not have any siblings that survived; two other children  had been born to… Read More »