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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Sleep, William Henry

Although William Henry Sleep usually gave his place of birth as Tavistock, Devonshire, he was born on 2 February 1884 in nearby Bridestowe. His father John Sleep was from St Blazey, Cornwall while his mother Susan(na) Stanbury was from Bridestowe. The couple had married  during the second quarter  of 1880, marriage registered in the district… Read More »

Chapman, George

According to his Ontario death record, George Chapman was born about 1876 in Edinburgh, Scotland. It suggested that he immigrated to Canada around 1901 and came to Kenora in August-September of 1919. He died on 7 February 1921 in the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Kenora and was interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery… Read More »

Holland, Ernest John

Second Lieutenant Ernest John Holland enlisted in 1914 and served in France and Belgium with the 8th Battalion. In 1917 he received a commission in the British Army and he served with the Royal Field Artillery until the end of the war, returning to Canada in June 1919. Ernest, sometimes known as ‘Jack’, was the… 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 »

Montgomery, Oswald Francis

With a family of eight children, five of the Montgomery sons were to enlist during the war. The Montgomery family had its roots in Lanark County in Ontario. Oswald Montgomery Sr, the son of a farmer and local justice of the peace, was born in 1857 in the township of Drummond. On 11 June 1884,… Read More »

Healey, William Henry

William Henry Healey joined the Royal Flying Corps in August 1917, at age 22, and served in Canada for one year as an Aircraft Mechanic 3rd Class. William Henry Healey was the son of William and Mary Healey of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. William Sr., a blacksmith, was born in Ontario and his wife in Wisconsin. They… Read More »

Makin, Edward B.

Edward B. Makin was the youngest son of John Makin and Elizabeth Ann Green.  He was baptized on 01 July 1894 in Christ Church, Chadderton, Lancashire, England. Siblings included Margaret (b. 1882), William (b. 1885), Ruth (b. 1889) and James (b. 1893).  Edward’s father, John, was a bricklayer.  In the 1911 England Census the family… Read More »

Colley, Sydney

Private Sydney Colley enlisted with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion in May 1915. He arrived in France in February 1916 and died four months later at the Battle of Mount Sorrel. Sydney grew up in Yorkshire, England in the parish of Sculcoates, which is now part of the city of Kingston upon Hull. His parents,… Read More »

McConnachie, Thomas

Thomas McConnochie was born on 25 April 1882 in the village of Barleith in the parish of Riccarton in Ayrshire, Scotland as per his Scotland birth record. Over the years, especially in Canada, the surname was spelled McConnachie. His father Thomas, a railway engine driver, was from Dreghorn while his mother Margaret (Maggie) Manson was… Read More »

McKenzie, Lawrence James

Birth date and location:  Lawrence James McKenzie was born on September 27,1896 in Kenora, Ontario, son of Andrew Dallas McKenzie and his wife, Sarah Jane Mitchell.  Andrew was born of United Empire Loyalist parentage in Orillia, Ontario in 1857. He  moved to Rat Portage (later known as Kenora) in 1888, working as a carpenter.  He… Read More »