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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Cridge, Alfred John

Alfred John (aka ‘Jack’) Cridge was born on 12 December 1892 in Bridgewater, Somerset, England.   His parents were James Weston Cridge and Emma Rendells.   Jack was educated in Bridgewater and learned the butcher trade.   In June 1913 he immigrated to Kenora, Ontario, Canada. On 17 April 1915 Jack enlisted with the 52nd… Read More »

Edmonds, Albert Martin

Albert Martin Edmonds was born on 14 August 1881 in Darsham, Suffolk, England. Both of his parents, James and Elizabeth (née Cossey) Edmonds were from Ormesby in Norfolk, a community about 55 kilometres north of Darsham. The couple had married during the first quarter of 1877, marriage registered in Yarmouth, Norfolk. Over the years James… Read More »

Welfley, Cecil Roy

Private Cecil Roy Welfley enlisted with Lord Strathcona’s Horse in 1916 and served for three years in Canada, the UK and France. Cecil Roy was born in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario on 5 November 1896. Usually known as Roy, he was the only son of Frederick Henry Welfley and Frances (Fanny) Dodsworth. His father was… Read More »

Walters, Frederick

Private Frederick Walters was married and the father of eight children when he enlisted in March 1916. His two oldest sons also served during the war and all three of them returned home in 1919. Fred and his wife Emily (née Golding) had immigrated to Canada in 1908 and settled in the town of Kenora,… Read More »

Elmgren, Albin

Albin Elmgren was born on 1 February 1890 in West Sweden, Polk, Wisconsin. West Sweden, organized in the mid 1870’s, was aptly named as it was a settlement of Swedes who were ‘west of Sweden’. It appears that Albin’s father Peter Elmgren had immigrated to the area in late 1876, and his mother Emmelia Christina… Read More »

Genge, Horace John

Private Horace John Genge was born on 6 October 1895 in Rat Portage, Ontario. His father, George Alexander Genge, was born Syracuse, New York and his mother, Isabella Jane Jobb, in Wingham, Ontario. George and Isabella were married in Brandon, Manitoba in 1891. Their first two children were born in Brandon: Thomas (1892) and Mary… Read More »

Matchett, James Arthur

Along with his twin brother Joseph Edward, James Arthur Matchett was born on 15 December 1884 in Keewatin, Ontario. His father James Matchett was from Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland while his mother Drucilla Goodwin was from Toronto, Ontario where the couple married on 3 December 1877. At the time of the marriage James’ occupation was given… Read More »

Smith, John Andrew

Private John Andrew Smith enlisted in March 1916 and served in France and Belgium with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion. During the Second World War he joined the Veterans’ Guard. John was born in Quebec, sometime between about 1880 and 1888, and moved to northwestern Ontario as a young man. He was married in the… Read More »

Lands, Edward

Private Edward Lands (aka Edward Land) enlisted in 1916 and served overseas for about two years. He was wounded at Ypres and returned to Canada in May 1919. According to his attestation and his service file, Edward was born around 1890 at Lac Seul Reserve, a First Nations community located north of the town of… Read More »

Brydges, Edward Webster

Private Edward Webster Brydges was 52 years old when he enlisted in July 1915. He served in France and Belgium for fifteen months with the 78th Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers) and returned to Canada in March 1918. Edward’s parents, William Brydges and Elizabeth Summerfield, were married in 1862 in Haldimand County, Ontario (called Canada West at… Read More »