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These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.
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Private John Major enlisted in June 1916 and served in France with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion. He suffered from health problems for much of his time overseas and he was invalided to Canada in July 1919. John was Ojibway and a member of the Northwest Angle First Nations band in northwestern Ontario. According to… Read More »
Augustin was born on June 28, 1872 in Bouchette Quebec to Maxime Villeneuve and Marie Cyr. He was one of many children in this family. In 1881, Augustin is shown age 9 in Bouchette with his parents and 8 brothers and sisters plus another sister, her husband and child. In the 1880s, several mills were… Read More »
Private Edgar Fortin enlisted in April 1916, at age 17, and arrived in France four months later. He was killed in November 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele. Edgar was the youngest son of Charles François Fortin and Emilie Jolicouer of Kenora, Ontario. Charles was from the Gaspé region in eastern Quebec and Emilie was… Read More »
Although he grew up in Norman, Ontario James Stewart Paterson was born in nearby Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) on 31 July 1896. His parents John Alexander Paterson and Helen (Nellie) Clark were both from Dundee, Scotland where the couple had married in 1881. After the birth of their first two children, John in 1882… Read More »
Private Harry Wilson served overseas for two years, most of that time in France and Belgium with the 8th Battalion. He was wounded twice, at the Battle of Passchendaele and at Amiens, but he survived the war and returned to Canada in May 1919. Harry was the oldest son of Henry Wilson and Edith Alma… Read More »
George Nelson Brunsel, son of Angus and Elizabeth Brunsel was born in Manitoba on 17 February 1873. He came to Rat Portage in 1879. He operated the first boat building company in Rat Portage with his brother Neill located on the lakefront between Main and Matheson street. Between 1899 and 1904 the company built many… Read More »
Sapper Charles McLaren Anderson joined the Canadian Engineers in February 1916 and served overseas for three years. He returned to Canada in June 1919 and died in a railway accident a year later, at age 27. Charles was the son of George and Annie Lyon Anderson of Stracathro, Forfarshire, Scotland. His parents were both originally… Read More »
Private Robert Hamilton Wright enlisted in December 1915, at age 15, and served in France and Belgium for more than a year. He was sent back to Canada in February 1918 due to being a minor. Robert was born on 26 April 1900 in the village of Norman in northwestern Ontario. His parents, William Hamilton… Read More »
Private Harry Tyson immigrated to Canada in August 1913, at age 22. The war started a year later and he was called up in February 1918. He served for ten months in Manitoba and Quebec. Harry was the youngest son of Henry Tyson and Eleanor Holmes of Ulverston, Lancashire, England. Henry was born in Ulverston… Read More »
Joseph Frederick Bellamy was born on 29 October 1896 in Fulbeck, Lincolnshire, England. His parents were Joseph and Edith (née Kelley) Bellamy and he had at least 3 sisters, Kathleen, Edith and Dorothy, as well as a brother, Jack. For many generations the Bellamy family background was working as agricultural labourers. In 1901 the family… Read More »
