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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Heath, George

Private George Heath was about 50 years old when he enlisted in August 1915. He served for 15 months in Canada and England before getting discharged due to being overage and medically unfit for war service. George was born in Portland, Leeds County, Ontario, the son of Ebenezer Heath, a cooper, and Maria Shaver. Ebenezer… 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 »

Thorpe, Thomas

Although he gave his birth year as 1892 on his attestation papers, Thomas Thorpe was born on 2 December 1891 in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England. Littleport is located about 60 kms southeast of Peterborough. His parents were Thomas and Sarah Elizabeth (née Pope) Thorpe, both born in Littleport. The couple had married in 1889. Over the… Read More »

Garrow, Frank Jacob

Frank Jacob Garrow was born September 20, 1889 in Colehill, Ontario. He was the 5th child of 8 born to Joseph Garrow and Elizabeth McKinnon.   Frank’s siblings were William, Joseph, Steven, Annie, Lucy, Sarah and Agnes. The family was all born in Ontario.   Shortly after the 1901 census Joseph and Elizabeth moved their… Read More »

Locking, Albert William

The son of Annie Adelaide Jones, Albert William Dunham Jones was born on 28 January 1889 in North Somercotes, Lincolnshire, England. At the time of his birth his mother was working as a domestic servant. By the 1891 England census, Annie and Albert were listed as visitors with the William and Caroline Humberstone family in… Read More »

Wydeman, Victor Nugent

Acting Sergeant Victor Nugent Wydeman enlisted with the Canadian Army Service Corps in April 1917 and served in Canada, Great Britain and France. He returned home in July 1919. Victor was born in Toronto on 7 July 1880 to James Wydeman (Weidman) and his first wife Harriet Adair. James was born in Pickering, Ontario and… Read More »

Thompson, Robert Charles

Sapper Robert Charles Thompson enlisted in April 1915 and died at the Somme about a year and a half later. His younger brothers William and Clifford also enlisted and they both survived the war. Robert was the oldest son of William Richmond Thompson Sr. and Elizabeth O’Hara. According to census records William Sr. and Elizabeth… Read More »

Raslask, Joseph Henry

According to his obituary, Joseph Henry Raslask was born on 25 October 1896 in Poland and served in WW1, service unconfirmed. In later years he went by the surname of Lusk. After immigrating to Canada he found work with the Canadian Pacific Railway, retiring in 1959 as a conductor. Joseph married Vera Johnson and known… Read More »

Forrest, Edgar Birdell

As given on his delayed birth registration, Edgar Birdell Forrest was born on 31 March 1897 in Baie Verte, New Brunswick. Signed in 1940 by his mother the former Jessie Sophia Rozander, Walter Richard Forrest, a boilermaker, was given as his father. However at the time of the 1901 census for New Brunswick, Jessie was… Read More »

Travers, James

Private James Travers was born on 30 September 1889 in or near the town of Ince-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, England. His parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Travers, were both originally from Ireland. Ince-in-Makerfield was in an industrial region between Manchester and Liverpool and Thomas worked there as a coal miner. The family moved frequently as only two of… Read More »