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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Campbell, Algar Udolph

Algar Udolph Campbell was born on 2 February 1890 in Catthorpe, Leicestershire in England. His father Finlay Campbell, farm bailiff, was from Daviot, Inverness in Scotland while his mother Annie Thorton was from Libourne in Northamptonshire. The couple had married in 1882 in Catthorpe. Sadly, Finlay and Annie’s first two children, Thomas Finlay born in… Read More »

Deacon, Lester Jerome

Lester Deacon was born in 1895 in Rat Portage, now Kenora. His father Thomas Russ Deacon, a civil engineer, had moved there in 1892 as manager of the Ontario Gold Concessions and was also managing director for the Mikado Gold Mine. Thomas Deacon was a member of the town council and served as town engineer…. Read More »

Paquette, Aime Ernest

Aime Ernest Paquette was born on 6 February 1898 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. He was the only child of Joseph Ernest Paquette and Delina Rancourt, both born in Quebec. Delina had married Pierre Ildevert Baribeau in 1874 in St Tide, Quebec although she had been living with her family in Winooski, Vermont… Read More »

Watson, Norman Campion

Norman Campion Watson was born on 13 August 1892 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father James Watson, a bank clerk, was from Lanark while his mother Margaret Yule Campion was from Edinburgh. The couple married on 5 September 1878 in Edinburgh. Known children born to James and Margaret were Edith Jane (1879), Margaret Lindsay (1882), James… Read More »

Stokes, Frederick Samuel

Frederick Samuel Stokes joined the British army at age 18 and had eight years of regular service followed by four years in the reserves. He was discharged in January 1914 and seven months later the First World War started. He enlisted again, this time with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and he served for another 3-1/2… Read More »

Shouldice, Arthur Alexander

Arthur Alexander Shouldice was born on 9 February 1885 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Joseph Shouldice was from the Gatineau River/Wakefield area of Quebec and had come west to Winnipeg in 1877 to work on CPR construction. His mother Christina Sutherland was from West River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The couple… Read More »

Mellish, George Robert

Gunner George Robert Mellish enlisted in Vancouver in the spring of 1916. He served with artillery units for three years in Canada, Great Britain and France and returned to Canada in June 1919. George was the oldest son of Alfred Mellish and Rosa Derry of Vancouver, British Columbia. Alfred was born and raised in Galt,… 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 »

Klabunde, Gustave Frederick Carl

Gustave Frederick Carl Klabunde was born on 6 April 1886 in Pembroke, Ontario. His parents Carl Wilhelm (Charles William) and Emilie (née Shultz) Klabunde were from Wusterbarth, Germany, and along with their one year old daughter Anna had arrived in New York on the 30th of March aboard the  Eider, just days before Gustave’s birth…. Read More »

Hudson, Cecil Thomas

Cecil Thomas Hudson was born on 23 February 1899 in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. His parents were George Hudson, a carpenter, and Georgina Clarke. He had two younger siblings – Lottie and Harold. Cecil enlisted with the Kenora detachment of the 94th Battalion on 17 March 1916 claiming that he was 18 years of age…. Read More »