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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Loutett, Walter

The third child in the family, Walter Loutett (also commonly spelled Louttit, Loutitt) was born on 6 February 1888 in St Andrews, Red River Settlement. His parents Thomas Lowe Loutitt and Catherine Corrigal were both descendants of Orkney Island Scotsmen that immigrated to the area to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company and who married… Read More »

Murray, Arthur Joseph

According to his recruitment papers, Arthur Joseph (Archie) Murray was born on 17 May 1896 in Kenora, Ontario (called Rat Portage at the time). He was the son of Alexander Morin and Leah Ross, the family surname eventually changed to Murray. Arthur had three older siblings, Joseph Theodore, Alexander Leonard (Leo) and Annie Rose. It… Read More »

Orr, James Walker

Acting Sergeant James Walker Orr enlisted in March 1915 and served overseas for three years. He was wounded at Vimy Ridge in April 1917 but he survived the war and returned home with a war bride. James was the son of Robert Barclay Orr and Margaret Walker Bryce of London, Ontario. Robert was born in… Read More »

Clarke, John

Private John Clarke enlisted in November 1915 and served in France with the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion. He was wounded in August 1918 at the Battle of Amiens and invalided to Canada five months later. According to his attestation John was born on 5 March 1884 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. He immigrated to Canada around… Read More »

Forbes, Adam Archibald

Acting Sergeant Adam Archibald Forbes enlisted with a railway unit in January 1917 and served overseas for two years. In the last months of the war he trained as a potential Cadet Pilot with the Royal Air Force. Adam was the son of Thomas Chisholm Forbes and Christina Kincaid of Rathwell, Manitoba. Thomas and Christina… Read More »

Hamilton, Hubert Weldon

Private Hubert Weldon Hamilton was the oldest son of John Matthew Hamilton and Margaret Carmichael of Copper Cliff, Ontario. He was born on 7 March 1895 in Pembroke, Renfrew County, Ontario and his family moved to Copper Cliff when he was a child. His father was a butcher and both of his parents were born… Read More »

Smith, George

George Smith was born on 9 June 1881 in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England. His parents were Alfred, born in Haddenham, and Annie, born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Found in the 1881 England census for Haddenham, Alfred was listed as an agricultural labourer. George had an older sister Florrie who was born in 1879 in Haddenham. During the… Read More »

Harpin, George Alphonse

George Alphonse Harpin was born on 19 January 1884 in Saint-Ours, Quebec, birth name on his baptism record given as Alphonse Charles Joseph Arpin. Saint-Ours is on the south side of the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Trois Riviere. His father Francois Xavier Harpin (Arpin) was a navigateur (sailor) and had married Marie Lahaise… Read More »

Symmes, John Arnold

  Lieutenant John Arnold Symmes served as an officer in the Canadian infantry for a year then he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in 1917. He trained in France and returned to Canada in April 1918. John was the only son of Ernest William Symmes and Eliza Jane Arnold of Niagara Falls, Ontario…. Read More »

McKinnon, John David

John David McKinnon was born on 24 September 1897 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His father Angus Hugh McKinnon was from the Lochiel area of Glengarry in Ontario while his mother Catherine Jane McRae was from Roxborough, Ontario. Although he had been living in Rat Portage and working as a general… Read More »