Kenora Great War Project

 

You can also view an Alphabetical List

The People

soldier_photobar

These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.

Search by name, or filter the search results using the list of options below.

Kinghorn, James Anderson

Sapper James Anderson Kinghorn enlisted in January 1915 and served overseas for three and a half years, most of that time with the Canadian Engineers. He returned to Canada in March 1919. James was the only son of James Anderson Kinghorn Sr. and Elizabeth Gray of Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He was born on 19 September… Read More »

McKelvie, James

James McKelvie was born on 2 September 1896 in Mossend in the registration district of Bothwell in Lanarkshire, Scotland. His parents Duncan McKelvie and Jessie McKean were both born in nearby Muirmadkin. At the time of the 1881 census Duncan was lodging with Jessie’s widowed mother Janet and some of her siblings in Bothwell where… Read More »

Smith, John Alexander

Corporal John Alexander Smith enlisted in May 1915 and served with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion for almost four years. He returned to Canada in March 1919. John was born on 26 April 1890 in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland. His parents were Alexander Smith, a tailor, and Helen Eadie. Alexander was from Lanarkshire and Helen was… Read More »

George, Ernest Frederick

During the First World War between 3,000 and 4,000 Canadian soldiers became German prisoners of war. Lance Corporal Ernest Frederick George from Kenora, Ontario enlisted with the 8th Battalion in September 1914 and he died as a prisoner of war in Belgium seven months later. Ernest was born in September 1889 in the town of… Read More »

Hicks, Leonard

Born June 3, 1896, Leonard was the son of   Joseph and Mary Jane (Ashmore)  Hicks.  Although he gave his place of birth as Kenora on his attestation papers, it is likely that he was born at the Mikado Mine on Shoal Lake, Lake of the Woods. His parents were born in England, and immigrated… Read More »

Dauphin, Leonard George

Sapper Leonard George Dauphin enlisted in Victoria, British Columbia in November 1915 and served overseas for three years. He survived gas poisoning and influenza and returned home in April 1919. Leonard was the only child of Joseph Dauphin and his wife Annie Belleau. Joseph and Annie were both born in Quebec but by the time… Read More »

Weir, George Patrick

George Patrick Weir was born on 9 August 1890 in Fergus, Ontario. His father William Anderson Weir was from Glasgow, Scotland and had immigrated to Canada in 1883. His mother Josephine Van Felson was born in Quebec City where the couple married in 1889. The marriage registration gave William’s occupation as employee of the Imperial… Read More »

Barker, Frederick Charles

Frederick Charles Barker was born on 12 September 1894 in Melita, Manitoba. His father Frederick (Fred Sr) Joseph Barker was from Shoreditch, London, England and had immigrated to Canada in 1873 with his parents who settled in the Faraday/Dungannon area in Ontario. His mother Mary Lydia Allcock was born in Faraday to recent English immigrants…. Read More »

Laine, Charles Foulsham

Acting Corporal Charles Foulsham Laine was born on 21 February 1888 in Gateshead, Durham, England. His father, William Henry Laine, was born in Ireland and his mother, Phoebe Emily Smith, in Norwich, England. They were married in 1880 in Newcastle upon Tyne and they had five sons: William Foulsham (1883, died as an infant), William… Read More »

Lavigne, William

Sapper William Lavigne was living in the Nelson area in British Columbia when he enlisted on 6 September 1916. According to his attestation paper he was born on 27 January 1876 in Kenora, Ontario, although it’s very unlikely he was actually born there. His death registration records his birth as 19 February 1877 in Ontario… Read More »