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These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.
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Ernest James Gander was born on 18 May 1884 in Upper Dicker, Arlington, Sussex in England. His parents were Albert and Jane Ann (née Martin) Gander. The children born to the family were Albert Edward, George Henry, Bessie, Ernest, Edith, and Ellen Louise. For the 1891 census the family was residing in Arlington, father’s occupation… Read More »
Private Donald James Margach enlisted three months after the war started and served in France and Belgium with the 31st Battalion. He was wounded in April 1916 and invalided back to Canada that fall. Donald was born on 25 November 1894 in Rat Portage, Ontario. His parents, William Innes Margach and Margaret Dunbar Hay, were… Read More »
Captain Austin Lyman Saunders of Winnipeg arrived in France in February 1916 with the 52nd Battalion. He was killed five months later when a large artillery shell landed on his dugout. Austin was the son of Edward Saunders and Agnes Jane Hay Porteous of Toronto, Ontario. Edward and Agnes were both born in Ontario, called… Read More »
Sergeant Charles Reed was born in England and served in the British army during the war. He immigrated to Canada in 1924 and spent some time living and working in the Kenora area. Charles was the son of Richard Reed and Clara Ellen English. Richard was born in Cambridgeshire, England and Clara in Norfolk. They… Read More »
Richard Oats Raine was born on 23 December 1900 in South Shields, Northumberland, England. His father, Joseph Garrett Raine, was born in County Durham and his mother, Mary Ann Oats, in Northumberland. Joseph was a butcher by trade. He and Mary Ann were married in 1896 and they had at least seven children: Margaret Mary,… Read More »
William, known by his middle name of ‘Miller’, was born in Keewatin, the son of John Murdoch and Catherine (Kate) Lithgow. Their father, John, was a tinsmith in Keewatin. Miller’s older, siblings were Annie, Norman and Howard. After William came Donald Herbert who also joined up with the army serving in WW1. … Read More »
Sergeant James Robert Munro served for 19 years with the British army before immigrating to Canada in 1911. He enlisted again during the First World War and served for almost five years with Canadian cavalry units. James was born on 23 September 1875 in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of George Andrew Munro and Elizabeth Allan…. Read More »
Leonard Stewart Mathias was one of the first contingent volunteers from Kenora. His name was among a list of 24 local men published in the Kenora newspaper on Aug. 12, 1914 who had passed medical exams for service after answering an Aug. 9 call for volunteers from the 98th (Rainy River and Kenora) Regiment. Leonard… Read More »
George Ralph Spradbrow began his flying career in the Royal Flying Corps in WW1 and moved progressively through bush flying and general aviation to become one of the first pilots of corporate flying in Canada. George was born on 20 November 1896 in Toronto, Ontario. His parents were Charles Spradbrow and Elizabeth Locke. Siblings included:… Read More »
Private Donald Alexander Dewar enlisted in the summer of 1915 and served in France with the 19th Infantry Battalion and the Canadian Engineers. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Hill 70 and invalided back to Canada in November 1917. Donald was the only child of James Dewar and Jessie McKeracher of Winchester, Dundas… Read More »
