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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Buckboro, Percy Roy

Sapper Percy Roy Buckboro enlisted in June 1915 and served in Canada and the UK for two years. He was discharged for health reasons in September 1917. Percy was the oldest son of Thomas Henry Buckboro (Buckborough) and Annie Margaret Burke of Winnipeg, Manitoba. His parents were both born in southern Ontario, Thomas in the… Read More »

Lacasse, Oscar

Born on 1 November 1887  in Keewatin, Ontario,  Oscar Lacasse was a middle son of Anselme (more commonly known as Samuel) and Wilhemina Melina (née Desmarais) Lacasse, parents being French Canadian, originally  from the Ottawa/Gatineau area. Samuel and Melina married on 27 April 1885 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Melina’s family having moved to… Read More »

Wolfe, Esfeld

Driver Esfeld Wolfe enlisted at age 17 and served with the Canadian Field Artillery for almost two years. He enlisted again in the Second World War and served for three years before becoming ill. He passed away in November 1943. Esfeld was born on 12 October 1899 in Iceland, the youngest son of Ulfar Gunnlaugsson… Read More »

McIlwaine, John Edward

Private John Edward McIlwaine served for two years in France and Belgium with the 43rd Battalion (Cameron Highlanders of Canada). He was wounded twice and became ill with influenza but he survived the war. John was born on 5 April 1888 in Workington, Cumberland County, England. His parents, James McIlwaine and Margaret McLoughlan, were both… Read More »

McFadden, Daniel Joseph

Daniel Joseph McFadden was born on 1 July 1878 In Kilsyth, Grey, Ontario, a small community on the outskirts of Owen Sound. His father John McFadden, wagon maker, was born in Ireland while his mother Mary Catherine McClarty was from the area. Daniel had two older sisters, Mary Ann and Catherine, and two younger sisters,… Read More »

Flett, Norbert Joseph Arthur

Private Norbert Joseph Arthur Flett was born in St. Boniface, Manitoba on 4 February 1888, the son of Charles Flett and Dorothy Laviolete. He was married in Kenora, Ontario on 12 April 1910 to Maggie Blackeye. Maggie was 20 years old, born in Ontario and the daughter of Abraham and Mary Blackeye. Norbert and Maggie… Read More »

Zaremba, Michael

Michael Zaremba was born on the 21 May 1894 in Russia. By 14 July 1915 when he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force for service in WW1, he was living in Montreal, Quebec and had the occupation of labourer.  He joined the 41st Battalion and arrived in England on 28 October 1915.  The following June… 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 »

Olsen, Horace Albert

Horace Albert Olsen was born on 12 October 1897 in the Ullswater area in Muskoka, Ontario. His father Tobias Olsen, the son of Norwegian immigrants, was born in 1862 in Quebec while his mother Mary Ann McCaskill, the daughter of a Scottish immigrant and his Upper Canadian born wife, was born in 1861 in Glengarry,… Read More »

Reynolds, Arthur

Arthur Reynolds was born on January 1, 1892 in Blackheath, Kent in England. Upon enlistment, he gave his place of birth as Greenwich, England and named his next of kin as his mother Mary, still living in Lee, Kent England as of 1917. He appears to have immigrated to Canada to take advantage of work… Read More »