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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Nesbitt, Fred

When Canada entered the war on 4 August 1914 the Miner and News in Kenora, Ontario followed the recruiting activities and listed the names of local volunteers. One of the Kenora recruits was Fred Nesbitt, listed in the 12 August issue of the Miner and News as a volunteer with the first Canadian contingent. By… Read More »

Harris, Myer

Myer Harris was born on 13 February 1879 in the Chelsea area of London, England. His forename was originally spelled as Mier but was changed along the way to Myer. His father Hyman Harris was from Spitalfields, London, while his mother Sophia Stephany was from Southwark in Surrey. The couple had married in 1875 in… Read More »

Godfrey, Chester

According to his Ontario birth record, Chester H Godfrey was born on 23 March 1878 in Hinchinbrooke, Ontario. This date and place differs from his attestation papers (25 March 1885 in Kingston, Ontario) and his obituary (15 March 1879 in Godfrey, Ontario). Chester’s parents were Coleman H Godfrey and Mary Ann Hill who had married… Read More »

McDiarmid, James Willard

Private James Willard McDiarmid enlisted in October 1915 at age 20 and served overseas with a field ambulance unit for almost three years. He returned to Canada in May 1919. His only brother Findlay Howard McDiarmid was killed in November 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele. James was the youngest son of James and Ida… Read More »

McCall, Alfred Thomas

Although he gave his place of birth as Simcoe, Ontario, Alfred Thomas (Thomas Alfred on birth registration) McCall was born on 5 May 1874 in nearby Charlotteville, Norfolk. His parents Lewis and Prudence (née Cassills) McCall had married on 29 December 1869 in Charlotteville, Lewis’ occupation given as farmer. Children born to the family were… Read More »

Scotland, Alexander Munro

Alexander Munro (Sandy) Scotland was among the first Kenora volunteers recruited through the 98th Regiment for service overseas, going with a group of 45 men to Valcartier, Quebec on Aug. 23, 1914. Born in Dundee Scotland, he came from a large family. The 1891 Scottish census listed the family as James McDuff Scotland (age 39),… Read More »

Blight, Marcus Joseph

Throughout the war railroads were essential for evacuating the wounded and moving troops, equipment and supplies, and skilled workers were needed for their construction, maintenance and operation. Second Corporal Marcus Joseph Blight, a CPR employee from Kenora, Ontario, enlisted with a railway unit in February 1917 and served in France and Belgium for two years…. Read More »

McMurphy, Lionel Dougald

Private Lionel Dougald McMurphy enlisted in October 1914 and served overseas for four years, most of that time with the 27th Battalion. He was wounded twice but he survived the war and returned home in May 1919. Lionel was the son of Dougald McMurphy and Olivia Jane Welsh. His parents were both born in Ontario,… Read More »

Martin, John Bard

The first born child of Richard and Sarah (née Bardosen) Martin, John Bardosen Martin was born on 25 April 1885 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father, the son of Cornish immigrants, had been born at sea as they were crossing the Atlantic while his mother was from Norway. Richard had first come… Read More »

Bouchard, Louis

Joseph Louis Bouchard was born on 26 December 1886 near St Adolphe in the RM of Morris in southern Manitoba where his family farmed. His parents, francophones from Quebec, were Damase Bouchard and Elisa Hebert. The couple had married in 1872 in the cotton milling/textile industry town of Nashua, Hillsborough, New Hampshire where Damase was… Read More »