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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Travis, Herbert Gordon

Herbert Gordon Travis was born on 18 October 1889 in Birtle, Manitoba. His father Herbert Travis, a music teacher/professor, was from England while his mother Edith Florine Emily Wood was from Arkona in southwestern Ontario, having moved to Manitoba with her parents and siblings as a child. The couple married on 11 March 1885 in… Read More »

Harris, Rollo Harold

Rollo Harold Harris was born on 5 August 1899 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father John Harris was born in Bruce Mines, Ontario while his mother Susan Thomasina Halliday McKay was born in Colvend, Kirkcudbright, Scotland. Susan had immigrated to Canada with her parents and siblings in 1874, arriving in Quebec on… Read More »

Bunting, John Benjamin

Lance Corporal John Benjamin Bunting joined the Royal Engineers in 1917 and served with the Inland Water Transport section. He spent 18 months in Mesopotamia and returned to Canada in August 1919. John was the oldest son of Joseph and Mary Elizabeth Bunting of North Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents were both born in Derbyshire,… Read More »

McDonald, Walter John

According to his baptism record, Walter John (Jack) McDonald was born on 19 November 1896 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Duncan Alexander McDonald was from Ontario while his mother Mary Elizabeth Kerr was from Scotland, the couple marrying on 21 October 1886 in East Selkirk, Manitoba. By the time of the… Read More »

Sowden, James

The name James Sowden appeared in the 15 August 1914 edition of the Kenora Miner and News as one of the recent volunteers for the 1st Contingent. His identity and service could not be confirmed but a James Bowden Soden enlisted  on 24 September 1914 at Valcartier Camp in Quebec. Serving overseas with the 16th… Read More »

Smith, John Andrew

Private John Andrew Smith enlisted in March 1916 and served in France and Belgium with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion. During the Second World War he joined the Veterans’ Guard. John was born in Quebec, sometime between about 1880 and 1888, and moved to northwestern Ontario as a young man. He was married in the… Read More »

Parker, George James

Private George James Parker was 45 years old, married and a father of four when he enlisted in March 1916. He served in Canada and Great Britain for two years. George was the son of James Parker and Orpah Fawkes of Lambeth, London, England. James was a bootmaker who was born in London and his… Read More »

Taylor, Samuel Joseph

  Samuel Joseph Taylor was born on 13 June 1885 in Lurgan, County Armagh in northern Ireland. His parents were Absalom Taylor, a shoemaker, and Mary Ann Stevenson, the couple marrying on 18 February 1889 in Lurgan. At the time of the marriage Absalom was a widower. Samuel had an older sister Susan (born 1883)… Read More »

Drew, John

The son of John and Elizabeth (née Page) Drew, John Drew was born on 29 December 1892 in Hathersage, Derbyshire, England. For the 1901 England census the family was living in Gorleston, Norfolk, England, father’s occupation given as engine driver. The children listed with the parents in the census were Elizabeth, Sarah, Ellen, George, and… Read More »

Hales, Wilfred

On 03 August 1888 Wilfred Hales was the 2nd born of 8 children in Peterborough, England to John Hales and Betsy Anne Peacock.  ‘Billy’, as he was known to friends, immigrated to  Canada  in 1911.   He joined the group of young men in Kenora that were from his  home town in England.  They became… Read More »